Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Supermarkets in Carmarthenshire have been charged a total of £8,200 for the recovery, storage and return of abandoned shopping trolleys since February 2011. The council introduced a policy to charge shops and supermarkets to try and reduce the problem of abandoned shopping trolleys, which have a negative impact on the environment, can cause injury to people and damage to property and vehicles. Shops are charged £10 per trolley for recovery, £10 per trolley per week for storage and £10 per trolley for return plus a £20 admin fee per batch released. In total 206 trolleys have been collected since the policy was launched – 145 have been returned, 40 have been scrapped (because they were unclaimed or untraceable) with the remainder currently in storage. Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “The aim of the policy was to encourage supermarkets to have better control and management of their trolleys. “When abandoned, these trolleys have a negativ...

Supermarkets and stores will be charged £25 for each abandoned shopping trolley recovered by Carmarthenshire County Council. Environment executive board member Cllr Philip Hughes has taken an executive board member decision allowing officers to trace owners and charge them upwards of £25 every time. An officer’s report showed thousands of customers daily used trolleys at stores and supermarkets across Carmarthenshire. Retailers provided them at a cost of many millions of pounds, with trolleys costing more than £100 each. Unfortunately, some irresponsible people leave their shopping trolleys unattended in streets and public places risking injuring passers by or damaging property and vehicles. Cllr Hughes said abandoned trolleys also had an environmental impact when they entered drains and waterways and interfered with the provision of public services. County environment enforcement officer Paul Morris said they wanted trolleys to stay on shop premises and the motivation to take this act...