Glasgow café owners clearing rubbish from Govanhill street turned away from recycling centre

Owners of a café who tidy their street every day have hit out at a council after being turned away from a recycling centre.

Daniel Radu and Florin Alex Ghimpu, who run Transylvania Shop and Coffee in Govanhill, Glasgow, took rubbish collected from the street to Polmadie Recycling Centre, but were accused of bringing commercial waste.

The pair – who have a commercial recycling contract with a private firm – had missed a bin collection due to being on holiday and took the bags to the dump instead.

Daniel said: “We tried to explain, but of course they didn’t listen. They threatened to close the gate and call the police. I was so angry.

“The council is not coming for days sometimes. They don’t recognise how big an issue it is. It’s an absolute nightmare. The rats are becoming a problem, there have been punctured bike wheels because of broken glass in the cycle lane.

“We are trying to do our bit and the council should be thankful. I look around and see many homes and shops in other streets leave their rubbish outside. This can’t last forever. It’s a mess.”

The cafe owners diligently clean up outside their street.

Staff at the Victoria Road establishment dedicate an hour to cleaning their shop front every day.

They sweep the streets, collect bags of rubbish and power-wash the pavements and seats. They will also be planting flowers to encourage bees to the area.

Daniel added: “Back home, if you have a business there is a law that you must clean it and pay respect back to the area where you get your income.

“We need to encourage more people to clean the front of their shop and take care of the streets and make the city greener.

“We need to teach the next generations to clean up after themselves.”

Rubbish dumped at a bin outside the shop

Glasgow City Council said it was “looking into the specifics of this incident”.

A spokeswoman said: “Our waste centres are free for domestic use and only receive waste from businesses if pre-existing arrangements are in place.

“We are always keen to support motivated citizens who wish to take care of their local environment with high numbers of neighbourhood improvement volunteers and community litter picking hubs in place across the city.

“Significant resources are allocated to the cleansing operation in Govanhill and it is wrong to say we do not care about the area.

“We will ensure our neighbourhood staff reach out to the member of the public in this instance so we can best support their efforts to help keep their local environment in good order.”