A SCOTS recycling centre has been forced to close to deal with the huge amount of discarded items dumped by fly-tippers.
Cursiter Quarry Household Waste Recycling Centre in Orkney has closed for “several days” after large household items were left around the site.
Fly-tippers dumped their rubbish despite signage on the gates stating that the site is only for household recyclable materials.
One image shows several chairs that look like they have been ripped out of a car or minibus laying on the ground.
Another image shows several fridge freezers, washing machines, carpets, a tyre, a fold up bed and even a toilet left abandoned at the site.
A final image shows bags of rubbish and a garden chair lying up against a metal fence.
Orkney Islands Council posted the pictures on Facebook yesterday with the caption: “Fly-tipping at Cursiter leads to temporary closure.
“The Council is disappointed to announce that fly-tipping at Cursiter Quarry HWRC has led to its temporary closure.
“The facility – which is open for recyclable materials only – will remain closed for several days due to the need to clear a large amount of rubbish which has been dumped there.”
Several islanders took to the post to criticise the council and claimed they were punishing the wrong people.
Ross Smith said: “How about finding out who did it instead of punishing everyone?”
Malcolm Russell commented: “So punish everyone by closing the site?
“The place should be taking all domestic refuse as it has done for years and not just recyclable.
“There’s a workforce at the quarry who could supervise as necessary and CCTV could be installed.
“The current situation is just another money saving exercise using COVID as an excuse. A disgrace!”
Duncan Montgomery said: “I think it’s fairly obvious the OIC needs to act accordingly, fly-tipping will only cause them to react.
“However, maybe the OIC should pay heed to the people in Orkney who are paying community charge for a service obviously not ‘hitting the mark’…”
Richenda Garrett added: “It makes it very clear that we are desperate for a service you’re not providing.”
Speaking today (TUE), Lorna Richardson, OIC Strategic Policy and Projects Manager, said: “The site is now closed and will remain shut for a few days while plans are put in place for a skip and manpower to clear the large volume of waste which has been left there.
“We would urge folk to use the site appropriately and only use it for recyclable materials, as is clearly stated on notices at the gates and on our website.
“Unfortunately, if other materials are left there, this can lead to us having to take this kind of action which is inconvenient for everyone.
“We will advise people again when the site is able to reopen.
“In the meantime, local residents can take their waste and recycling to the sites at Hatston, Garson or Bossack, or make appropriate use of the kerbside collection service.”
Speaking today Graham Sinclair, the Council’s Chair of Development and Infrastructure, said: “I am very disappointed that some have chosen to ignore the previous warnings of what may happen if waste was disposed of inappropriately at the Cursiter site.
“The help and support of the local community is important in the running of the site to avoid unfortunate and unwelcome periods of closure such as this.”
Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste onto land that has no licence to accept it – from a bin bag of household rubbish to large quantities of tyres or construction waste
It is a criminal offence in Scotland under Section 33 EPA 1990.
Across the UK, reports of fly-tipping has soared since the last year following the closure and restricted access to many local authority dumps and other waste management services.
