Glasgow businesses fined over £21,000 for littering in one year

Firms across the city were hit with fines worth more than £21,000 for commercial fly tipping and littering between January and December last year.

The list of shame obtained by to the Evening Times includes multinational companies, takeaways, gig venues and a church.

A staggering 4,500 compliance visits were carried out by the Commercial Waste Enforcement Team within 12 months.

In this time, they issued 202 fixed penalty notices to 136 businesses among which involved 44 for commercial fly tipping amounting to £8,800 and 158 for commercial littering bringing in a total of £12,640.

Ten years after an Evening Times investigation exposed the scale of the city’s fly-tipping problem – which included Halifax bank, Subway and Starbucks, above, amongst the worst offenders – the same firms continue to flout littering laws by dumping rubbish on city street.

Elsewhere, city bars including Atlantic Bar, Yesbar, Bar Gumbo, Lucky 7, Slouch and The Woods were caught by the council and issued with fixed penalty fines.

Popular restaurants Chaakoo, Grill on the Corner, BRGR, La Vita, Masala Twist, Meat Bar, Pizza Punks, Roma, Shawarma Grill, Patisserie Valerie and Tinto Tapas Bar have been pulled up,

Clubs and music venues The Berkley Suite, Classic Grand, King Tuts, Kokomo and Sub Club, which boast thousands of punters every week, are failing to uphold their obligation to keep the streets surrounding their premises clean.

Several of the worst offenders are on an already struggling Sauchiehall Street.

As previously reported by the Evening Times, the once popular shopping destination was been marred with litter and vandalism.

Several businesses have been forced to close due to lack of business and footfall which has been attributed to the mess.

Deichmann shoes, bars Driftwood and Firewater, above, Bo Concept, and takeaways Godfather and NY Slice all contributed to the litter problem last year.

High street favourites and designers including Dune, Sketchers and Vans also appear on the list obtained under a Freedom of Information request.

Most surprising among the offenders are top legal firms and public services.

Abellio, operators of ScotRail, Arvato Financial Solutions, Big Day Events, Christ Church, Down to Earth Organics, FPSG recruitment, Future Fitness, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, Knight Frank estate agents, Scot Nursing, Scotland Property Management, Scott Moncrieff accountants and Tenants Information Service have been forced to pay up.

The council’s Commercial Waste Enforcement Team provide advice and measures to prevent commercial fly tipping and littering.

A commercial littering fine of £80 or fly tipping fine of £200 can be issued on the spot if a business is found to be dumping rubbish on pavements, chucking out cardboard boxes or leaving bags on the streets outside designated uplift times.

Earlier this year, Glasgow City Council introduced a new scheme to tackle unsightly commercial waste bins.

The scheme will be rolled out to the north-west of the city by September 15 this year, to the south of Glasgow by December 8 and to the north-east of the city by March 2 next year.

Under the city centre scheme, no trade waste containers are allowed to be stored on pavements, street or lanes outwith designated uplift windows.

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman described the mess as a “huge drain on already stretched council resources”.

She added: “Keeping the city clean and looking at its best is everyone’s responsibility however businesses have a legal obligation to dispose of their waste in an appropriate manner.

“Our City Centre Commercial Waste project is designed to improve the city centre’s cleanliness and make our streets look more attractive as well as improving public access and safety in lanes.

“Fly-tipping is a blight on our communities.

“There is absolutely no excuse for it - our household waste and recycling centres are open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.

“The cost of removing dumped debris is a huge drain on already stretched council resources. We urge the public to report anyone they spot dumping rubbish or debris to our Environmental Health team at 0141 287 1059.”

Kathryn Stewart, District Manager, Starbucks Scotland: “We take our responsibility to keep the areas around our stores clean very seriously.

"We have taken steps and are working closely with our waste provider and local store teams to make sure all necessary measures are in place for the future.”

A Zero Waste Scotland spokesperson said: “Dealing with litter and flytipping costs over a million pounds a week in Scotland – and that’s money that councils could better spend on other priority services.

“In order to cut down on litter and flytipping effectively, and move on from the endless task of cleaning up other people’s mess, we need to make dropping litter and flytipping material socially unacceptable. That shift in behaviour is part of Zero Waste Scotland’s ongoing work with the public, businesses, councils and landowners.”

Sara Barry, co-ordinator of Glasgow branch of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said that flytipping anywhere is “acceptable”.

She added: “Recycling in Glasgow could be a lot better - we need to make sure people are taking it seriously.

“Littering and flytipping has a detrimental impact on Glasgow’s tourist industry.”