Call for dumped trolleys to be shopped using app

CALLS were today made for people to stop the “nightmare” of dumped trollies littering Dundee by using an app.

Amid a spate of trollies being abandoned, Councillor Will Dawson, convener of the council’s development management committee, has urged folk to use Trolleywise — an app that allows people to take a photo of the trolley, the location of which is then traced so it can be recovered.

Councillor Dawson made the plea after a resident complained about waiting nearly a month for one to be collected from near his home.

The resident claimed he told Asda about the trolley on a number of occasions but his calls went unanswered and he removed it himself.

Councillor Dawson added: “I’m looking for supermarkets to be more proactive in their approach.

“The problem of supermarket trollies being abandoned across the city can be a nightmare for residents.

“They can be left on grass verges, carriageways and road sides, or even end up in places like the Dighty.

“So, as well as being unsightly, they can cause physical and environmental damage if left in the wrong place.”

Councillor Dawson called for supermarkets to crack down on the problem, highlighting the use of one app, and added: “Companies such as Asda use a company called Trolleywise to collect trolleys for them. However, this appears to be on an ad hoc basis. Trolleywise provide an app which allows people to take a picture of the trolley and then it automatically finds its location through GPS.”

A spokesman for Asda said its three city stores used a combination of the red barrier system, locking mechanisms and regular foot patrols to prevent trolleys being dumped, adding: “We have regular patrols to retrieve any trollies that have gone astray. If anyone spots one where it shouldn’t be, they can call our stores or Trolleywise to have it collected.”

An Aldi spokesman said: “Aldi uses coin locks in all trolleys to help prevent them being abandoned away from our stores. While we understand this is not foolproof, we do believe it to be effective. In addition, we remove trollies with broken locks from service in order to prevent their misuse and we sweep our sites on a daily basis to gather and secure any unused trollies.

“Should we be made aware of any abandoned trollies in the local community, we would be happy to retrieve them as soon as possible.”

Tesco declined to comment, while Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Lidl had not responded at the time of going to press.

Abandoned shopping trollies in Dundee at Kirkton and Happyhillock Road.