As part of the Scottish Government's vision of a Zero Waste Society, where all waste is seen as a resource; waste is minimised; valuable resources are not disposed of in landfills, and most waste is sorted, leaving only limited amounts to be treated, local authorities have been tasked with meeting recycling targets as follows:
- by 2010 - 40% of waste generated is recycled or composted
- by 2013 - 50% of waste generated is recycled or composted
- by 2020 - 60% of waste generated is recycled or composted
- by 2025 - 70% of waste generated is recycled or composted
As at the end of 2016, East Ayrshire recycles 53.3% of its collected household waste, meaning we still have a journey ahead to meet the remaining targets.
Our kerbside recycling collection services were introduced to enable you to recycle as much of your household waste from home as possible, with our Household Recycling Customer Charter outlining the services we provide.
The Council also operates two Recycling Centres and a network of Local Recycling Points located at supermarket sites throughout the authority to enable you to recycle any extra wastes produced.
Materials collected at the kerbside and from the recycling centre/points are taken to the Western Road Depot in Kilmarnock, where materials are sorted and bulked for onward sending to the Council's contracted reprocessors. Keeping materials separate and clean provides the best opportunity for items to be recycled. For example, our paper and card is used in paper mills within the UK.
We also have a Materials Recovery Facility at Western Road where for example, cans are separated into bales of aluminium or steel before leaving Kilmarnock.
The Council also works with organisations such as Zero Waste Scotland to promote national waste minimisation initiatives such as Love Food Hate Waste.
As part of our drive towards a Zero Waste society we introduced three weekly general waste bin uplifts. Three weekly uplifts were possible as our kerbside recycling service reduced the amount of general waste needed to be uplifted. During 2018 households will be provided with a weekly recycling collection system alongside food waste. To find out more visit the recycling trolley and frequently asked questions web pages.
Thanks to the support and recycling efforts of our residents and businesses across the authority area, our recycling performance rates us as one of the leading recycling authorities in Scotland. However, we know that to meet these future targets, we need to do more, which is why we need everyone to remember to recycle for East Ayrshire and not to let a good thing go to waste.