CAMRIDGE -- Empty pill bottles scattered across a Cambridge pharmacy parking lot and people allegedly going through the garbage looking for leftover medication has caused concern for a Cambridge business

Al Neely, the manager of a business next to the Shoppers Drug Mart on Hespeler Road, says there was someone rummaging through the dumpster at around 6:45 a.m. Friday morning.

Employees of City Carpet, which is right next to the Shoppers, say they are fed up with seeing the trash, empty pill bottles, and mounds of garbage littering the parking lot.

Neely says people are taking the trash from the pharmacy’s bin and bringing it behind his business because there is better lighting at night.

He adds that this has been happening for more than two years.

“It’s not just contained to nighttime, and then the garbage is being left around” said Neely. “Again asking Shoppers Drug Mart to please, if you’re not going to clean ours up that’s coming out of your garbage, can you please clean your own up?”

A representative of the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy says the bottles would likely be empty, since pharmacists dispose of pills separately through a special program.

A statement from Loblaw Public Relations confirms that, saying that they dispose of medication in dedicated, secure bins inside the store. The empty bottles outside are bagged daily and disposed of in a dumpster.

"Attempts have been made to secure this dumpster with a locak however these have repeatedly been broken," the statement reads.

"The store is doing their best to eliminate break-ins and has informed local police of the issue. A new one-way filling dumpster is being investigated in order to avoid situations such as the one that just occurred."