Fly-tippers dump waste on shores of Loch Etive

FLY-TIPPERS are spoiling the shores of Loch Etive near Bonawe Quarry, dumping a bed, a rowing machine and a Volvo bonnet among the mess.

The waste was part of the latest haul of rubbish cleanedup by workers from fish farm company Dawnfresh and weighed in at 167kgs.

A classic racer bike frame, a single mattress, a diving hood, a storage heater, wheel wrench, car tyres, camping chairs, buckets, plant pots, cans and bottles were also collected.

Since December, the monthly shoreline trawls by boat have picked up 500kgs of waste.

Jason Dobson, who works as an environmental/fish health specialist for Dawnfresh, set up the clean-up project as part of the company’s commitment to looking after the environment. He said: ‘Fish farming gets a lot of negative press saying we are responsible for waste that’s washed up on the shore but 90 per cent of what we pick up is nothing from our sites. It’s left by fly-tippers, campers or fishing trips.’

Dawnfresh leases its sites on Loch Etive from the landowning Campbell Prestons family but has an obligation to look after land near it. ‘We could not believe our eyes at what we were picking up and pulling off the boat last time. It was just incredible. Some of the stuff was definitely fly-tipped deliberately by people getting access to the loch-side. We think they might be using an old fire road,’ said Mr Dobson.

Now there are plans for more signs to go up along the shore, reminding people not to dump litter and take any waste home with them. Out of the 500kgs of rubbish collected in the last three months in the area, an average of 80 per cent of it has been recycled either through Dawnfresh’s own disposable services or Argyll and Bute Council’s recycling centre at Moleigh in Oban.