Traders could pitch in to keep litter away
TRADERS could be asked to play their part in ensuring Glasgow remains litter free as takeaway boxes and bottles have once again been littered across a West End park.
Another warm weekend in lockdown left Kelvingrove Park looking unsightly, with rubbish overflowing from bins.
While people have been urged to live up to their public duty by taking care of their duty, talks of a “good traders scheme” could see local business also play their part.
A local resident Louise Graham described the state of the park as “really disgusting and super sad”.
However, as the Covid-19 crisis will likely see takeaway remaining the main method of supporting restaurants, councillor Ken Andrew said a scheme where businesses would support extra bins and servicing could be on the table.
He sympathises with many people enjoying the good weather and said: “Clearly, it is really disappointing how littered the parks have been getting but of course that is a consequence of the beautiful weather we have been having.
“Particularly, in the West End with a lot of people living in flats, during the lockdown when we do have a spell of good weather, of course naturally they want to get out. Some of the businesses that can sell takeaway food, they are trying to keep their businesses going. I have a lot of sympathy with that.”
Additional waste overflow was seen after popular Glasgow pizza chain Paesano reopened and takeaway boxes were littered bins across the city. Paesano has since offered to recycle the boxes itself and even installed industrial-sized bins near both their West End and city centre premises, however pictures taken on Monday demonstrate the problem persists.
Cllr Andrew praised the business for its efforts to tackle the issue: “Pizza boxes, in particular, just jam the bins up, but some businesses have put extra bins in to help the situation. He added that plans for the scheme would consider “a way we can extend that and offer other business some way that they can help”.
Nonetheless, he added that personal responsibility is also needed next to by park visitors: “I would just ask people to, if they can, to take their pizza box with them until they see an empty bin. It is not too big of an ask.”
The councillor emphasised that street cleaning teams have been doing a “fantastic” job throughout the pandemic to keep Glasgow clean.
“I applaud them for what they have been doing. They really have done a fantastic job,” he added.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council added that there was spare bin capacity for waste to be discarded properly over the weekend.
He said: “The bottom line is that people have a public duty to put the waste they produce in a bin.
“People do need to consider how much waste they are producing, whether they are acting in a sustainable way and what they can do to support public services at a challenging time.”