Food waste piling up as flat bin collections scrapped in Glasgow

Scotland's largest council says it will tackle a food waste pile-up after many households failed to comply with cancelled services.

Glasgow City Council announced on 24 March that food bins would cease to be emptied from flats.

However, officials say residents have continued to use them.

Councils which kept the service include Edinburgh City, which noted food waste would become a "public health hazard" if left to build up.

Others, such as Dundee and Aberdeen, scrapped the service altogether.

'Very little uptake'

Officials in Glasgow have now been forced to take action after a number of alerts of food waste piling up in back courts.

The council moved to cancel food waste collections from flats due to reduced resources during the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesman said there had been "very little uptake of the service" at these properties.

Residents were instead advised to place food waste in their main household waste bins.

The service was also suspended for all other residences in Glasgow, but resumed on 11 May.

'Remains suspended'

No letters were sent out on the matter, however announcements were made via the council's website and social media channels.

The spokesman said: "We are aware that despite the instruction for people to use general waste bins for food waste, there are food waste bins in back courts that now require to emptied.

"To protect public health we putting together a plan to have these bins emptied as soon as possible.

"However, it must be stressed that the regular uplift of food waste bins from back courts remains suspended at this time and these bins will be locked once emptied."