Govanhill cafe owners frustrated with council over waste after being turned away from recycling centre

Cafe owners who have been tidying up the streets of Govanhill say they have have been left frustrated with the council’s response to their efforts after they were turned away from a recycling centre.
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Bosses at Transylvania Shop and Coffee on Victoria Road tried to take rubbish to Polmadie Recycling Centre but were told by staff that they couldn’t dump commercial waste.

They argued the rubbish was from the streets around their premises and insisted they have a commercial waste contract with Loop Recycling.

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Daniel Radu and Florin Alexandru have also said they reported dumped waste in Tollcross, where they run another shop, in December but the council didn’t act until the pile of rubbish was set on fire.

The council said they were looking into the situation and planned to reach out to the cafe owners to support their environmental work, but stressed that waste centres were for domestic use only.

The cafe owners, who had missed a home bin collection while on holiday, decided to take that rubbish and waste picked up by their staff from Victoria Road to Polmadie.

They said: “All the time we have been doing that without asking any help from anyone. In total, we had like ten bags of waste.

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“When we arrived at the recycling centre, the guy told us that he knows we have a shop on Victoria Road and that we are dumping commercial waste.

“We tried to explain what we were doing and he didn’t want to listen. He said if we are putting rubbish there, he will close the gate and call the police on us.

“It is not like we are going to throw rubbish there everyday, we are going once in two weeks. We did not want to go public about this but when it’s enough, it’s enough.”

In a post on social media, the cafe owners asked where the council would like them to put the street rubbish. “We have emptied the bins in the surrounding area around our shop, power washed all the stains and graffiti off the benches and took care of any other rubbish the council has just ignored,” they added.

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“It’s becoming tiring having to continue to clean a council area, to then be disregarded by a council staff member.”

They have been backed by Cllr Soryia Siddique, the city’s Labour group deputy leader, who represents the Southside Central ward. She said: “It is important Glasgow City Council listens to local businesses and communities’ experience of services in the area.

“Their lived experience can improve and shape services. Transylvania Shop and Coffee’s experience of cleansing services has been raised with me, which I have raised with the head of neighbourhoods, regeneration and sustainability.”

A council spokeswoman said: “We are looking into the specifics of this incident. However, our waste centres are free for domestic use and only receive waste from businesses if pre-existing arrangements are in place.

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“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.”

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