Man 'left waiting eight months' for recycling bin to be emptied

A frustrated Glasgow resident was reportedly left waiting eight months for a recycling bin to be emptied.

Councillor Bailie Ade Aibinu described the delay as “astonishing” after the householder in Partick asked him for help to get it sorted.

Glasgow City Council staff have since apologised to the constituent in Exeter Drive and monitored the service for six weeks.

The householder rang repeatedly but didn’t get any response until Conservative councillor Aibinu stepped in.

He said: “We can’t blame Glaswegians for not recycling if this happens. The recycling bin wasn’t emptied for eight months, which is quite astonishing.

“This looks really bad for the council considering the COP26 event is approaching.”

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) starts in Glasgow on October 31 and will see delegates and experts from around the world gather to discuss ways of tackling climate change.

It is understood the blue bin is supposed to be emptied every 14 days.

The rubbish was eventually lifted in May after a drawn-out process, and councillor Aibinu raised the issue at the most recent council meeting.

He asked the question whether “this is good enough” to councillor Anna Richardson, city convener for sustainability and carbon reduction.

SNP councillor Richardson replied: “Officers have advised me that they were first made aware of a report of a missed collection at the location of Bailie Aibinu’s constituent in March this year.”

She added: “It is my understanding that the matter is now resolved and a response has been issued by operational staff. Any delay in service is clearly unacceptable, and should quite rightly be reported in to the council.

“I have been assured that officers have apologised to the constituent for the missed collections and arranged for the location to be monitored for a period of six weeks to ensure an appropriate level of service was being provided.

“I can confirm that subsequent collections have taken place to schedule.”

By local democracy reporter Sarah Hilley