Mid & East Antrim retains fortnightly bin collections amid return to blue bin co-mingled recycling

Mid and East Antrim households will retain fortnightly collections following a return to mixed dry recycling bin collections,  councillors have been told.

Minutes of a discussion on the future of waste collection in the borough that took place behind closed doors  at The Braid in Ballymena, last month, said if members approved the recommendation for “co-mingled” collections and processing of dry recycling waste, the intention was to retain fortnightly collections.

The recommendation was proposed by Larne Lough DUP Councillor Gregg McKeen, seconded by Braid TUV Cllr Matthew Warwick and agreed following a vote with 26 votes in favour and six abstentions by Alliance.

A proposal by Knockagh Alliance Cllr Aaron Skinner, seconded by Braid Sinn Fein Cllr Archie Rae, to defer a decision pending receipt of DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs) guidelines on the future of waste management in Northern Ireland was defeated after nine votes in favour and 24 against.

Interim director of operations Shaun Morley told members there was “flexibility” built into the recommendations and there would “not be a requirement for specialist vehicles”.

Minutes say that Cllr McKeen ‘expressed disappointment’ in the proposal to defer the decision given what he described as the “detailed information contained in the report and the benefits to council, particularly, regarding the cost/benefits of standardisation”.

Currently, blue bins are used for dry recycling in Larne with a triple stack wheelie box system in use in Carrickfergus and kerbside boxes used in Ballymena areas.

Households in Carrickfergus and Ballymena areas will be provided with a 240 litre blue bin when this system is introduced while Larne residents will be requested to use existing bins. Glass will be recycled with other dry materials. Bins will be emptied every fortnight.

All households in the borough will continue to have black bins for non-recyclable residual waste and a brown bin for garden and food waste. There are no planned changes to  brown or black bin collections.

Cllr McKeen proposed the council move forward with the recommendations in the report “given the length of time councils had been awaiting guidance” and that members “needed to decide on what was best for Mid and East Antrim”.

Mr Morley pointed out there was to be no funding from DAERA. The council had applied for funding previously to roll out triple stack bins in Larne.

Last October, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir, an Alliance MLA, announced £2.6m funding for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council to provide triple stack bins for households in Antrim.

Minutes indicated that Mr Morley outlined criteria for a previous offer of funding to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and “implications in terms of reduction in the size of residual waste bins and three-weekly collections”.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is to carry out a public consultation on a proposal to ditch triple stack bins in two of its main towns. The council says an economic appraisal will then take place before the planned return to “co-mingled” recycling in Carrickfergus and Ballymena areas expected in 2026/27.

Households are asked to continue using the existing systems in the meantime.

At the same meeting, councillors approved to progress a business case for the purchase of three 16-tonne bin lorries and two 26-tonne bin lorries.

The council says:

“The aim of standardising the collection process and adopting an easier and simpler recycling model is to lead to greater participation from residents and improved recycling performance.

“Through the draft Circular Economy Strategy, councils across Northern Ireland were set ambitious recycling targets of 55% recycling by 2025, yet in 2023/24, Mid and East Antrim achieved a recycling rate of 50.67%. In addition to this, the strategy has set a 60% recycling target by 2040, 65% by 2035.”

A spokesperson for DAERA has said:

“DAERA is aware of the recent decision by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to implement a co-mingled collection for dry recyclables throughout the borough.

“A range of proposals designed to improve the quality and quantity of our recycling and to help Northern Ireland achieve its statutory requirements were included in a recent consultation ‘Rethinking our Resources: Measures for Climate Action and a Circular Economy in Northern Ireland’.

“Analysis of consultation responses has helped inform a draft Departmental response which officials are currently finalising. It is Minister Muir’s intention to bring this to Executive colleagues to seek their support in moving forward together to not only meet our legal targets for recycling but to also help drive green growth and develop our circular economy in Northern Ireland.

“Under current legislation aimed at not just increasing the quantity but also improving the quality of the material collected, co-mingling is no longer considered an acceptable form of separate collection.

“The Waste (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 revoked Section 21 of the Waste Regulations (NI) 2011 which had stated that co-mingling was an acceptable form of separate collection.

“This means councils (and waste collectors, more generally) have a legal obligation to consider collection methods from a place of greatest separation of material streams except where this is not technically feasible, would entail disproportionate economic costs, or does not deliver the best environmental outcome. It is up to individual councils to ensure this is completed.”