City businesses told to clean up their act or face £50 fines

Published on Saturday 22 August 2009 11:13

A NEW crackdown has been launched that will see shops and restaurants handed £50 fines for putting trade waste out at the wrong time.

Environmental wardens are trying to ensure that there is no trade waste on the city's streets after 10:30am.

If businesses are found to have broken the rules, they face being given a formal warning. And if the offence is repeated they will receive a 50 fine.

City leaders say that the campaign is an attempt to make sure the city looks as clean as is possible – weeks after images of overflowing bins were beamed across the country. But business leaders say that fines could be too harsh a way of dealing with the problem.

City leader Jenny Dawe said: "Cleanliness in Edinburgh is at an all-time high. We all have a role to play in ensuring that Edinburgh is a clean, green city.

"Businesses have a vested interest in the attractiveness of the city."

Part of the problem is said to be that seagulls will swoop on food waste, scattering it over the street.

Council wardens have been giving advice to businesses on how their waste should be presented, as well as ensuring know when it will be collected.

Many businesses use private firms for waste collection – but they will still be liable for warnings and fines if they are leaving waste on the street for too long.

The move received a lukewarm response from Malcolm Duck, chairman of the Edinburgh Restaurateurs' Association. He said: "It is in the interests of business to have a clean city but the public sector need to exercise common sense. From the two restaurants I've operated (in the city] I've yet to see that from some of the litter police."

He said it would be against hygiene practices for restaurants to take waste back into their premises, and pointed out that it is not always easy for waste firms to arrive at the correct time for collections.

"It is difficult enough to get round Edinburgh. If they have to pick up before 10:30am that's not going to be easy."

Andrea McHugh, the council's head of environment, said: "We appreciate traders' cooperation in following the instructions given by their trade waste operators.

"If our environmental wardens notice businesses who are presenting at the wrong time they will be told to take their waste back in and may face action if they refuse."