Waste staff launch campaign to save glass bottle bins in Glasgow
Refuse collectors across the city are also concerned about the brown bin permit coming into force for garden waste.
Councillors across Glasgow are being asked to re-think a decision to remove glass bottle bins from outside of homes.
They will be scrapped when the deposit return scheme comes into force later in the year and there are also plans to take away big blue recycling bins outside of shopping centres and supermarkets.
Chris Mitchell from GMB Scotland said: "Not everyone will tap into the new scheme and return their glass bottles to shops.
"Many people will just put jars and glass bottles in the dustbin instead making them a lot heavier for staff members who are already under a lot of pressure because people are retiring and not being replaced."
Glasgow City Council claims it has to make the cuts to plug a £50 million gap in this year's budget and that there is no legal requirement to provide a glass bin.
Chris added: "We are in the middle of an environmental catastrophe and we cannot continue to go on like this.
"It is having a detrimental effect on the members I represent and I really feel that a charge for a brown bin could mean people dump more garden waste across the city.
"The people in power cannot continue to cut their way out of a crisis."
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “These measures were agreed as part of the 2023/24 budget, which had to bridge a funding deficit of almost £50m.
"The budget aimed to protect services and jobs where ever possible and has looked to deal with the funding gap by raising additional revenue.
"We have no legal obligation to collect garden waste and local authorities across Scotland already charge for this kind of service.
"Garden waste will still be taken at our household waste centres free of charge.
"There is no statutory requirement to provide a household glass collection service and the amount of glass collected is expected to drop significantly with the introduction of the deposit return scheme.
"Public recycling points for glass will remain available.
"Publicly-sited blue bins have been frequently misused and attract fly-tipping. Plans are in place to extend the range of dry, recyclable materials that are collected in household bins.”
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