A Dundee resident has hit out at the council after recycling centre staff closed the site early and refused to allow him entry.
Derek Paton says he took six bags of rubbish to the Riverside Recycling Centre on Wednesday only to find staff locking up – an hour-and-a-quarter before the advertised closing time.
After being refused entry to the site Derek says he chose to leave the bags of concrete at the gates to make a point.
Derek: ‘I’m furious, I was accused of flytipping’
However, he says that despite making every effort to dispose of his rubbish legally Derek says staff at the centre accused him of flytipping.
Derek said: “I am furious. This is not the first time I have taken rubbish to the centre within the advertised opening hours, only to find the centre closed.
“How are people supposed to dispose of their rubbish if the centres are not open when the local authority says they will be?”
Derek explained he had loaded six bags of the concrete rubble into his car to take to the centre, which he read on the council’s own webpage closed at 8pm.
He said: “I got there at 6.45pm to find the staff locking the gates and closing up.
“I said I had rubbish to dispose of and that there was still plenty of time to the advertised closing time.
“The staff told me the skips were full but I had been down earlier and had seen that the concrete waste disposal skip was only half-full.
“Despite asking to be allowed to dispose of my rubbish legally I was not allowed into the site.
“I heaved the six bags of rubbish out of my car to get a reaction from the staff but they just told me I couldn’t leave them as I would be flytipping.
“I was there trying to do the right thing but how are you supposed to do that if the centre closes early?”
He said he deliberately left the bags at the gates to make a point.
Derek said he had previous experience of the centre closing early when he went along with rubbish at 4pm on a Saturday to find the gates locked an hour before the advertised closing time.
He said: “This has actually happened to me three times and I have complained to the council but have got nowhere.
“On one occasion there were around 20 cars trying to get into the site but it was closed before its advertised time.
“It’s a total shambles and certainly does nothing to encourage people to get rid of their waste legally.”
Dundee City Council: ‘Centres can be closed outside advertised times’
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Our opening times are advertised on our website and on site.
“Recycling centres can be closed outside these times if skip containers are full, extreme weather occurs, for health and safety reasons, or any other service disruptions.
“In such an event, if possible, we will look to update the public through the council’s social media channels and website.
“Where one recycling centre is closed during its usual operating hours, the city’s other household waste recycling centre is available to residents.”
Conversation