Wheelie box bins roll-out in Antrim area: Weekly collections on target to start September

Antrim and Newtownabbey councillors have been updated on preparations for the roll-out of wheelie box bins in the Antrim area next month.

A total of 370 residents attended 22 public drop-in information sessions ahead of the introduction of triple-stack recycling bins to households in Antrim, Randalstown, Crumlin, Templepatrick and Toomebridge.

At present, households in the Antrim area have a 240-litre black bin and a blue bin of the same size, collected on alternate weeks. Garden and food waste is collected fortnightly in brown bins.

The new wheelie box bins will be collected weekly.

Three stackable boxes are attached to a wheeled trolley, with each box featuring a front flap for access. This design means the boxes do not need to be lifted off the trolley.

Households will also receive a smaller 180-litre black bin, which will be emptied fortnightly. There will be no change to the brown bin collection service.

Existing blue and black bins will be collected and taken for reuse or recycling.

A report presented to the borough council at a meeting in Mossley Mill, Newtownabbey, on Tuesday evening stated:

“The phased roll-out of the new collection service is still on target for week commencing 15 September, and it is envisaged that the services will be fully implemented after nine weeks.”

The report also confirmed that 16 “kerbside sort vehicles” are due to be delivered in the first week of September.

“The new vehicles incorporate innovative mechanisms for litter prevention and the collection of new materials, and should decrease the number of mechanical issues associated with the current legacy Newtownabbey vehicles,” councillors were told.

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council was the first local authority to introduce the triple-stack bin system, which has been in operation in Newtownabbey since 2016, covering 37,000 households.