Commercial traders have been hit with fines over large quantities of waste dumped at a recycling centre in Dundee.
Mounds of rubbish, including clothing, cardboard, and glass were piling up at Kingsway West Retail Park.
Shocked shoppers said the recycling area at Tesco was an “absolute disgrace” as they attempted to use the area on Tuesday.
Dundee City Council is responsible for the Eurobins at the site but the clothing bins are maintained by The Salvation Army.
The local authority said “a number” of penalty notices were issued to commercial traders for using the household waste site.
The mess was being cleared up on Tuesday afternoon.
Lochee councillor Wendy Scullin said a review of collections was also needed in order to improve the situation.
She said: “I am shocked at the state of the recycling area at Tesco.
“I will be contacting the Salvation Army to discuss their pick up times.
“Although these are for household waste there are commercial companies dumping at these points.
“I’m happy to see the council has been proactive with fixed penalties.
“I will be asking to have conversations with the environmental department to see what else can be done to keep these areas clear.”
Rubbish at Dundee Kingsway is ‘unsightly mess’
One customer said he was “disappointed” at charitable clothing donations being dumped on the ground.
He said: “It was an unsightly mess when we went up and we took our recycling elsewhere.
“Rubbish was blowing everywhere.
“Whilst we were here other people were just adding to the rubbish.
“All the clothing being dumped on the floor was disappointing to see, it wasn’t even bagged.”
A spokeswoman for the Salvation Army assured they were now increasing the number of visits to the site.
She said: “Our operations team at our trading company, who manage the clothing banks on our behalf, has visited the site today (Tuesday).
“The site is managed by the local authority and unfortunately this is an example of fly tipping.
“We always work with our partners to help support them, and to provide clean and tidy areas for our communities.
“Our collector has visited the site today and cleared the area around our banks, and we will increase our visits to this site from 3 to 5 days a week.
“We do ask that members of the public do not leave donations outside of banks and to drop them off at another local clothing bank if these banks are full.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The bins at this location are for household waste only.
“If the bins are full, householders shouldn’t place any further waste beside the bins.
“We are attending the location to remove the items.
“A number of fixed penalty notices have been issued to commercial traders for dumping at the location.”
Conversation