Roll out of blue bins 'will increase recycling rates' across Mid and East Antrim, says council
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has reiterated its commitment to rolling out blue recycling bins to households in the Carrickfergus and Ballymena areas.
The council was responding to comments from Bryson Recycling over kerbside-sort recycling which was extended to Antrim and surrounding districts by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council last autumn.
In a recent interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Bryson Recycling director Katy Fulton said if Mid and East Antrim Council was to adopt a similar collection model, combined with reduced residual waste capacity, she estimated it could receive in excess of £3m in DAERA funding and make annual savings of potentially £3m.
The Bryson Recycling director reported 15 per cent contamination of materials deposited in blue bins compared to 0.1 per cent in wheelie boxes.
In a statement, Mid and East Antrim Council said: “Mid and East Antrim Borough Council reaffirmed its decision in January 2026 to move to a fully co-mingled kerbside recycling collection model.
“This model will mean that residents can recycle all recyclable material in one place. Officers are now working to roll out the new system as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“This approach is currently being fully utilised successfully in six other council areas across Northern Ireland. The council anticipates that it will increase recycling rates across the borough and support the achievement of the government’s 65% recycling target for 2035. We will continue to keep residents updated as implementation plans progress.”
Households in Carrickfergus and Ballymena areas will receive a new 240L blue bin replacing a box collection after plans for a uniform triple stack box system for dry recycling to be introduced across the borough were dropped.
Larne area residents will continue to use their existing blue bins. Collection of blue recycling bins will be on a fortnightly basis.
A question submitted by a member of the public to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council previously queried: “Who is right – Antrim council getting rid of blue bins or Ballymena introducing blue bins?”
Responding at the time, interim chief executive Valerie Watts said: “Consistently, the highest performing councils collect their recycling using the single bin co-mingled system and based on the research undertaken, the council is confident that the only option for achieving the government’s recycling targets was to adopt the blue bin system.”