Pest control contractors have warned of an increased risk of rats and pests if problems plaguing the city’s new recycling system are not ironed out quickly.
Irate residents across the city are up in arms over issues with rubbish pilling on the side of the road, as well as constantly finding overflowing recycling bins with no space for further refuse at designated recycling points.
Dundee City Council said delays in the delivery of a number of recycling bins was why rubbish was being left on the streets uncollected.
Pest control experts have said they are anticipating an increase in the number of calls they receive regarding vermin like birds, rats and flies, if rubbish and refuse continues to collect at the side of the road.
Andy Law Pest Control said: “Pests like seagulls and pigeons are drawn to bags of rubbish because they are a source of food.
“Pigeons scavenge for food spilled from bags, and gulls have giant beaks which can rip at the bags, which they then pull contents from.
“Once food waste spills on to the street, this can attract rats and other vermin.
“There are rats in Dundee, but they mainly live underground away from view. As soon as you provide a food source for them though, they will move to that food source and that’s when sightings increase.
“Rats are nocturnal animals, but will come out in the middle of the day if they know there is a source of food.
“There is an element of public responsibility in keeping pests and vermin away. By keeping bins upright, and keeping bins closed, then pests will reduce.
“But if plastic bin bags are left out on the street, then pests will get at them and sightings will go up.”
Dee Ward-Thompson, of the British Pest Control Association, said: “Councils have tough decisions to make when faced with the need to cut costs, but they must also weigh up the potential impact of reducing certain services.
“While reducing the number of collections might well produce initial savings, it could easily lead to big problems further down the line.
“It could create infestations that wouldn’t have otherwise happened and which would be likely to spread.
“Authorities might then have to step in to eliminate the threat to public health and that would cost much more than simply collecting the bin more regularly in the first place.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative MSP for North East Scotland, Bill Bowman, questioned whether the new recycling scheme had been adequately explained to the public.
He said: “It seems that we have a new council administration in Dundee, but the same old story.
“Bin collections are one of the key services that a local authority provides to citizens, and taxpayers will rightly feel very frustrated that the council cannot get that right.
“There will always be difficulties with the implementation of a new system, but with rubbish overflowing into city streets, this seems to be more than just teething problems.
“I would question both the planning of the roll out and the communication of the new process to the public.
“It is vital that people understand what is happening, but the council also has to ensure that it sticks rigidly to its timetable for distribution of new bins and to regular collections.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Since 2010 the number of pest control call outs and treatments that Dundee City Council has dealt with involving rats has remained at the same level.
“Each year around 3% of the total call outs, equating to around 90 incidents, have involved rats.
“This year’s figures from March suggest the same pattern.”
