FED-UP Glaswegians say they have been forced to store recycling waste in their homes after blue bins were left uncollected for up to two months. 

Those living in tenement blocks in Shawlands claim the communal bin sheds are overflowing and recycling waste has been left to pile up.

It comes after we reported on how binmen staff shortages were leading to mountains of rubbish blighting the Thornwood area in the city's West End.

 Images given to the Glasgow Times show a bin shed with a mound of cardboard boxes, bags and a Christmas tree, as well as several overflowing bins and litter scattered on the ground.

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Glasgow Times:

James Andrews, who lives in the area, claimed his bins have not been emptied for almost two months.

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He said: “I feel ticked off. I have been pretty much stockpiling my recyclable waste but it was taking up too much room so I ended up taking out as much as I could to the back court in a bin bag. 

“It's not a pretty sight but I don't drive so there's not really too many options available to me.

“By my reckoning it's been nearly two months since any of our recycling waste was collected.”

Glasgow Times:

Another Shawlands resident who wished to remain anonymous said: “I’m losing my mind over the lack of bin collection. 

“Yesterday and today the street next to me had their blue and green bins emptied. 

“Meanwhile I am stockpiling my recycling in my flat as all our blue bins are a disaster. 

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“The communal bin at the end of the street has been overflowing since before Christmas and there’s now litter everywhere next to it.

“I care about recycling but it’s encouraging people to just dispose of litter any way they can, not everyone is going to keep it in their home and why should they.”

Glasgow Times:

Another resident who did not want to be named claimed his blue bins had not been emptied since COP26 in November and is being forced to make frequent trips to the Polmadie recycling centre to dispose of his recyclables.

He said: “The bin collection in Shawlands, particularly the recycling, is absolutely shocking. 

“I don’t think ours on Kilmarnock road has been collected since before Cop26. 

“They were last scheduled to be collected on Christmas Day, who knows why as they obviously were not going to be collected then.

“Thankfully our bin area doesn’t look too bad as I believe all tenants of the close have took their own measures, for example I’ve done a fair few runs to Polmadie, but it is a hassle and I have cardboard boxes lying about the flat.”

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Andrea Harrington, who recently moved to the area, was shocked to see dozens of bags amassed at her only local glass collection point.

She said: “I’ve recently moved to Shawlands and am upset about not only overflowing bins on the main road, but the amount of rubbish around. 

“This is the only glass bottle bin in the area, either there should be more, or emptied more frequently.”

The bin collection schedule in Glasgow has been affected by staff shortages due to workers in Covid isolation. 

The situation was aggravated during the COP26 climate conference as binmen went on strike over a pay dispute with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). 

Earlier this month, Glasgow City Council warned of possible delays to the bin collection after the festive period.

A council spokesperson said: “There are addresses in the Shawlands area where the cycle of collections landed on the weekends for Christmas and New Year, when the service was shut down for festive-period holidays.

 “Due to levels of absence among our staff because of general illness, covid self-isolation and annual leave, there have unfortunately been delays to collections in places across the city.

“Households also produce additional waste during the festive period, which takes longer to process.

 “We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by any delay to collections and we are working to catch-up on any work missed over the festive period as quickly as possible.

“Many addresses will have been unaffected by the recent situation and we aim to have the overall collections schedule returned to normal in the coming days.”

After Glasgow Times contacted Glasgow City Council, the glass collection point has been cleared.