The Liverpool City Council is tired of dealing with dumped trolleys and is planning a trial program to provide up to 500 personal two-wheeled shopping trolleys known as “granny trolleys”.
They would be sold to eligible residents such as pensioners and those without a car at a subsidised rate.
Deputy Mayor Peter Harle said it was a retro solution to a newer problem.
According to Harle, “Despite the legal responsibility falling on supermarkets, the council is faced with the problem and has devised a solution.”
He added, “In the past, many households had their own shopping trolleys, and by revisiting this concept, we may discover a practical solution to a significant issue.”
Liverpool Mayor Ned Mannoun called on other councils to consider following suit.
“It’s a classic circular economy solution to a massive environmental problem,” he said.
The funding will come from the council’s Environmental Levy.
In the last two months, Liverpool City Council has impounded nearly 1200 trolleys, most of which have been collected by supermarket owners, who were charged $46.30 a trolley.
Council bosses warned they’re planning a “trolley blitz” in May and this time will be slapping shops with fines of up to $1320 per trolley.
Liverpool City Council once used a machine called “the croc” to tear apart old mattresses – but now they’re feeding it thousands of shopping carts that were left abandoned in the area.
The council says putting the trolleys through the machine means the metal can be recycled instead of ending up in landfill.
