Wednesday July 29th 2026
Fly-tipping
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Catherine Hunter
More than £2.5 million has been spent on the supply and delivery of Glasgow’s bin hubs since the programme launched, new figures have revealed.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted by councillor Paul Carey BEM and shared exclusively with the LDR service shows that 628 hubs have been installed across the city to date, including the pilot areas.
The FOI also shows that around 21,000 properties now benefit from the increased collection as a result of the hubs and new bins allocated in back courts.
But since the programme launched in summer 2023, residents have raised concerns about fly-tipping next to the hubs and the damage inflicted on them.
In the last three years, the council has received 3711 reports of overflowing bin hubs, 1670 reports of fly-tipping and side waste, 641 complaints of graffiti and 300 “other issues”.
There are around 400 properties in the south west of the city which are not suitable for bin hubs because of the service difficulties for collection crews but will benefit from a new recycling service.
In 2024, £7.2m funding was approved to expand the bin hub project and to introduce the new enhanced service to flats citywide.
Although there had not been a formal consultation process, a series of local information events have been arranged where residents can engage with the project team, roads technicians and local operational staff.
Speaking about the programme, councillor Paul Carey said: “When the pilot scheme started, I warned that obviously these bin hubs would be used as dumping grounds and these figures have proved that they are dumping stuff.
“We don’t know what people are dumping there.
“The council claimed this would clear the back courts but it has just provided an opportunity for people to fly-tip beside them.
“We need the bin hubs in certain locations but this has just been rolled out without thought.
“In my ward in Drumchapel people are complaining about the fly-tipping beside the hubs which in turn is attracting pigeons, seagulls and of course rats.”
Glasgow City Council says that they monitor the bin hubs and any issues are dealt with promptly.
A spokesman for the council said: “On-street bin hubs were piloted successfully in areas across Glasgow and provided a more efficient service that is safer for staff while supporting improved options for recycling.
“Bin-hubs have an increased frequency of collection compared to usual flatted property collections, with bins serviced every four days and the range of recycling bins emptied every eight days.
“There is also regular monitoring of bin hubs and any issues are dealt with promptly.
“The roll-out of the bin-hub approach has been undertaken in the south west of the city and we are looking in detail at lessons learned to ensure plans being developed for the rest of the city are as effective as possible.
“Every street with flatted properties will be individually assessed for its suitability to use bin-hubs and we know bin-hubs will not be viable at every location.
“However as part of the effort to improve Glasgow’s record on recycling, every property will have access to the new recycling system that extends the range of materials that can be recycled while also ensuring that food waste recycling is available.
“We will be engaging with all communities where bin-hubs are being considered and further details will be made available to those communities as the roll-out of the new recycling service continues.”
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