Recycling Centre van curbs proposed by Mid and East Antrim Council

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council looks set to join a neighbouring authority in restricting commercial use of household recycling centres (HRCs).

The issue was discussed behind closed doors at Monday’s meeting of the borough council at The Braid in Ballymena.

At last month’s meeting of the council’s Environment and Economy Committee, councillors were asked to “reinstate the system used during Covid”, which restricted access by commercial vehicles and limited use of household recycling centres in Mid and East Antrim to residents.

The recommendation was described in the committee minutes “as a necessary measure to protect the intended use of council HRC (household recycling centre) sites”.

Minutes of the discussion, which also took place in committee, recommended the implementation of restrictions on vans and large trailers visiting the council’s household recycling centres. The “effectiveness and impact of restrictions” are to be reviewed after six months.

The council’s household recycling centres are located at Harbour Highway, Larne; Marshallstown Road, Carrickfergus; Waveney Road, Ballymena; Island Road Lower, Ballycarry; and Dickeystown Road, Glenarm.

The minutes also state that some committee members voiced concerns over the timing of introducing the process prior to a new director taking up post.

The report noted that interim chief executive Valerie Watts indicated the restrictions could be implemented at the recycling centres and that she would be “overseeing the work of the operations department in the interim”. She added that officers would continue to monitor fly-tipping.

Meanwhile, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council introduced a booking system for medium and large vans using its household recycling centres in November 2024.

If the van owner lives within that borough and is carrying household waste, they are permitted to access the local authority’s recycling centres.

In October last year, councillors there were told the van booking system had reduced rubbish by 200 tonnes and saved £20,000. They were advised van arrivals were “spread more evenly throughout the day” and that there had been no increase in fly-tipping.

Separately, an Alliance motion in Mid and East Antrim last August calling for recycling centres in Larne, Carrickfergus and Ballymena to reopen on Sundays failed. HRCs in Larne and Ballymena were already closed on Sundays, and Sunday opening at Sullatober in Carrickfergus was dropped when a new schedule came into effect in the borough in April last year.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has been asked for comment.