Antrim’s old blue bins could be reused as Mid and East Antrim plans recycling U-turn

Blue household recycling bins replaced in Antrim could soon find a new home in Mid and East Antrim.

Members of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Environment and Economy Committee were told at a meeting in March that a director would contact neighbouring Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to make enquiries about the potential reuse of the wheelie bins.

A triple-stack wheelie box system was rolled out to 25,000 households across the Antrim, Randalstown, Crumlin, Templepatrick and Toomebridge areas during autumn last year, as part of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s move away from the blue bin recycling system.

The potential purchase of Antrim’s former blue bins by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council was one of the options discussed behind closed doors at the Environment and Economy Committee.

Households in the Carrickfergus and Ballymena areas are due to move away from the current box recycling system during the 2026/27 financial year, in what marks a significant U-turn by the council.

Minutes from the committee meeting state that members raised concerns about approving a business case to purchase blue bins and queried potential liability risks, particularly in relation to costs. However, councillors were given assurances by an acting director.

Previously, the local authority had sought funding from Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to extend the triple-stack wheelie box system to Larne, in a bid to create a uniform waste collection service across the borough.

In a statement issued last year, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said it had been researching ways to make recycling simpler for householders and improve recycling rates across the borough.

Under the approved collection model, all dry recyclable materials will be placed into a single bin.

A spokesperson for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council said:

“Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council can confirm that all blue bin containers uplifted as part of the roll-out of the harmonisation project were sent to be either recycled into new bins or re-purposed into second-hand bins, depending on the quality of the container, through a third-party contractor.”

Antrim and Newtownabbey was the first local authority in Northern Ireland to introduce the triple-stack wheelie box system. The bins have been operational in the Newtownabbey area since 2016, serving 37,000 households.