GOOD NEWS | No return to recycling boxes as MEA Council confirms blue bin rollout is going ahead
Wednesday 11 November 2026
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has reaffirmed its decision to introduce blue wheelie bins across Ballymena and Carrickfergus, despite calls from Bryson Recycling to reconsider the move and claims that an alternative system could save £3 million a year.
In a statement issued today (Wednesday 11 November), the council made clear that preparations are continuing to replace the existing kerbside recycling boxes with a single blue bin for household dry recycling.
The response comes as many residents continue to express frustration with the current box collection system, including broken plastic containers, difficulties storing and managing multiple boxes, and recyclable materials being blown or scattered across streets.
The planned change has attracted widespread support among residents who favour the convenience of a wheelie bin, although no independently verified borough-wide measure of public opinion has been established.
Council reaffirms its decision
Responding to Bryson Recycling's intervention, a council spokesperson 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."
The statement confirms that the council is proceeding with the system agreed by elected members, rather than adopting Bryson Recycling's proposal to retain and expand separate kerbside collections.
It also makes clear that the council expects the change to improve recycling performance, although those benefits will need to be demonstrated once the new service is operating.
Residents frustrated by recycling boxes
For households across Ballymena and Carrickfergus, the debate is about more than recycling statistics and collection costs. It concerns the practicalities of managing household waste every week.
The existing system requires residents to separate recyclable materials into different boxes, which must then be stored, carried to the kerbside and collected.
Complaints about damaged containers, unsecured materials and recycling scattered by wind have contributed to frustration with the service. For some households, particularly those with limited storage space or difficulties handling several containers, the proposed blue bin offers a simpler alternative.
These experiences help explain the support expressed for the council's decision, but they do not, by themselves, establish which collection system produces the best environmental results.
Blue bin rollout dates confirmed for 2027
The council's plans are now moving beyond policy decisions and into delivery.
A procurement notice published on 9 November seeks a contractor to assemble and distribute approximately 50,000 new 240-litre blue wheelie bins across the Ballymena and Carrickfergus areas.
The tender has an estimated value of £400,000 excluding VAT and sets out a phased delivery programme ahead of the new service beginning in each area.
The timetable currently provides for:
• Ballymena – blue bin deliveries expected to begin on 8 February 2027, with the new collection service scheduled to start on 5 April 2027.
• Carrickfergus – deliveries expected to begin on 26 April 2027, with the new service scheduled to start on 7 June 2027.
An earlier council performance report identified 31 July 2027 as the target for completing the borough-wide rollout.
These dates remain part of the implementation timetable and are subject to the necessary delivery arrangements being completed.
What will change for households
Under the new arrangements, residents in Ballymena and Carrickfergus will receive a 240-litre blue bin for accepted dry recyclable materials, removing the need to separate those materials into individual kerbside boxes.
The council's published guidance confirms:
• All accepted dry recycling can be placed together in the blue bin.
• Blue bin collections will take place fortnightly.
• The new blue bins will be supplied free of charge.
• Existing recycling boxes will no longer be used for council recycling collections once the new service begins, although residents may keep them.
• There are no planned changes to black or brown bin collections.
• Larne households will retain their existing blue bins but will no longer need to separate glass into the internal caddy once the revised service begins.
Food and garden waste must continue to be placed in brown bins. The change does not mean that every type of household waste can be placed in the blue bin.
The council has said residents will receive further information before the new arrangements take effect.
Bryson Recycling challenges the decision
The council's renewed commitment follows criticism from Bryson Recycling, which argues that Mid and East Antrim could achieve better financial and environmental results by adopting a kerbside-sort system similar to that used by neighbouring Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
Katy Fulton, director of Bryson Recycling, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
"If the council were to adopt a similar collection model to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, namely kerbside-sort recycling combined with reduced residual waste capacity, we estimate it could receive in excess of £3m in DAERA funding and make annual savings of potentially £3m.
"In Antrim and Newtownabbey, the system is delivering. It should be a signal to Mid and East Antrim."
The suggested £3 million annual saving and potential government funding are Bryson Recycling's estimates. They are not confirmed savings or an approved funding allocation for Mid and East Antrim.
The proposal also involves reducing capacity for non-recyclable household waste, meaning it is not simply a comparison between recycling boxes and blue bins.
Contamination concerns raised by charity
Bryson Recycling maintains that collecting materials separately produces cleaner recycling and allows more of it to be processed within Northern Ireland.
Ms Fulton reported contamination rates of approximately 15% in mixed blue bin collections, compared with 0.1% in separately collected wheelie boxes. These are figures supplied by Bryson Recycling, rather than independently verified results for Mid and East Antrim's future service.
She also highlighted the problems caused by unsuitable materials being placed in recycling bins, including soiled nappies, plastic bags and other household items that must be removed during processing.
"People forget that there are human beings at the other end of a blue bin, Somebody has to separate that out," she said.
The charity has pointed to improvements in neighbouring Antrim and Newtownabbey, where it reports increased recycling volumes, reduced residual waste and more recyclable material being processed locally following the expansion of separate kerbside collections.
Those results form part of Bryson Recycling's case for reconsideration, but Mid and East Antrim maintains that its chosen approach is capable of improving recycling rates across the borough.
Two councils taking different approaches
The disagreement highlights a significant difference in recycling policy between neighbouring local authorities.
Antrim and Newtownabbey has expanded its triple-stack recycling box system, requiring households to separate materials at the kerbside. Mid and East Antrim is moving in the opposite direction, replacing boxes with a single blue wheelie bin.
Both councils say their chosen approaches are intended to improve recycling performance, but they place different emphasis on how materials are collected and processed.
For Mid and East Antrim residents, the immediate change will be simpler household sorting and a different collection schedule. The longer-term test will be whether the system increases the amount of waste successfully recycled while providing value for ratepayers.
Blue bin plans continue despite objections
Bryson Recycling has presented a financial and environmental argument for retaining separate collections, but the council's latest response leaves its existing decision unchanged.
With a procurement process under way and delivery dates now set out for Ballymena and Carrickfergus, the council is continuing towards the introduction of blue bins in 2027.
For residents who have struggled with damaged boxes, awkward collections and recycling scattered across their streets, that means a long-awaited change remains on the timetable. Whether it also delivers the improvements in recycling performance promised by the council will become clearer once the new system is in operation.
