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UK waste disposal giant offers the Highland public an apology for bottle bank chaos after failing to clear overflowing glass mountains for weeks





Bottles littering full banks at Tesco's Tomnahurich Street branch
Bottles littering full banks at Tesco's Tomnahurich Street branch

A UK waste disposal giant is apologising to the Highland public for weeks of chaos as 'glass mountains' continue to grow at overflowing bottle banks.

Buckinghamshire-based Biffa Waste Services, one of the largest UK companies of its kind, is responsible for emptying the area's many glass recycling hubs and blamed "unforeseen issues".

It vowed to make fresh investment in extra disposal trucks and staff going forward.

In recent weeks, complaints from the public reached a peak while bags of bottles and other litter continued to be dumped at jam-packed bottle bins.

RELATED: VIDEO + PICTURES: Highland Council bottle banks in Inverness overwhelmed by an ugly sea of dumped glass

The Council has now issued an update, with issues still evident at many disposal sites and a Biffa Waste Services spokesman said: "Due to an unforeseen resource issue, we find ourselves falling short of the required level of service expectations we provide to the Highland Council.

"We are currently recovering the missed collections and are working towards a more robust service offering in the future and investing in additional vehicles and resource contingency planning going forward.

Bottles banks in Dalneigh were also overflowing
Bottles banks in Dalneigh were also overflowing

"We are fully committed in working towards an improved service offering for Highland and apologise to the public for any inconvenience caused at this time”.

The Council's Waste Operation Teams are working closely with Biffa to help relieve the pressure and manage the demand at the Recycling Points.

Chair of Highland Council's Communities and Place Committee, Cllr Graham Mackenzie, said: "The Council would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience and understanding.

Bottles littering full banks at Tesco's Tomnahurich Street branch
Bottles littering full banks at Tesco's Tomnahurich Street branch

"Whilst the service recovers, we would ask that if your local glass bottle bank is full, please avoid leaving your glass by the banks. Please take it away with you until the banks have capacity.

"Further area updates will be provided as soon as normal levels of servicing have resumed."


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