Bins and containers

We encourage all residents to recycle their household wastes, which reduces the volume of waste being sent to landfill.

The East Ayrshire Council Cabinet meeting on 12 November 2014 approved our customer charter which details the service you can expect from us and what is expected from you.

Household recycling charter for Scotland

The Scottish Government in its efforts to ensure waste is seen as a valuable resource, introduced the Household Recycling Charter for Scotland. This Charter is designed to establish a more consistent and uniform approach to how waste is captured for recycling across Scotland.

As a signatory to the Household Recycling Charter, we successfully bid for funding in excess of £2M to introduce a recycling trolley collection system during 2018. The recycling trolley not only complies with Charter requirements, but enables us to provide a weekly collection service for paper and card, plastics and cans, glass alongside food waste in the vehicles currently used for food and plastic collections only.

Your collection service guide

Our householder collection service (as detailed below) comprises a weekly recycling trolley and food collection service; a four weekly garden waste collection service (seasonal) and a three weekly landfill waste collection service.

The service guide issued along with the recycling trolley during 2018 (or for new build properties along with your full set of containers) details how to use the collection services provided.

Recycling trolley

Recycling trolley - a weekly kerbside collection service for paper and card, plastics, cartons, cans and glass.

Making sure the right material go into the correct containers is important - mixing materials lowers the quality, value and demand for collected materials from our re-processors.

The trolley, comprises three separate boxes which fit securely onto a wheeled base:

Top box, which is secured by a lock, is for paper and cardboard
Middle box is for mixed plastics, cartons and cans
Bottom box is for mixed glass

Just like your green or brown bin, the recycling trolley can be wheeled to your usual collection point for emptying. The recycling trolley is collected weekly alongside food waste.

Plastic bags, plastic film such as food wrapping, sweetie papers and crisps bags, can't be recycled and should be placed in the green/grey wheeled bin ( landfill waste).

And, if you use a plastic bag to store materials indoors, it would help us greatly if you could rip the bag open and place the contents into the correct part of the recycling trolley. Ideally, the only filled plastic bags we aim to collect are those used when the trolley compartment is already full. Helping us in this way ensures that the collected materials can be recycled/reused.

How to use your recycling trolley

Watch our video on how to use your recycling trolley.

Brown bin

Brown bin (or biodegradeable sacks) are for garden waste - operates from March to November

Black and red boxes

Black and red boxes - supplied pre the introduction of the recycling trolley - can be used alongside the recycling trolley for excess materials.

All excess material must be presented in line with the recycling trolley i.e. separated paper and card, or separated plastics/cans or separated glass - they cannot be mixed and placed in the box(es). If you do not have a black or red box, separated materials can be placed in a bag and placed alongside the recycling trolley for uplift

Food waste bins

Food waste bins (small silver caddy for internal use and a larger green external caddy)

Blue bins

Re-used blue bins - from July 2018 blue bins will be reused as garden waste (in place of a brown bin) and landfill waste containers (in place of a green/grey bin). Any blue bin provided for this purpose will be supplied clearly labelled for its intended use.

Blue bins were previously used for paper and card collections. The paper and card collection are now included within the weekly recycling trolley service.

If you still have your blue bin and wish it to be collected, please contact Waste Management Services.

Green bins

Green bins/grey bins (lilac sacks) are for for waste that cannot be recycled - waste which will be sent to landfill.

Where it is not possible to use bins we provide an annual allocation of different coloured sacks which match the bin provision as detailed above.

Where to leave your bins during extreme weather

When high or extreme winds are forecast, residents are advised that the recycling trolley/bins should be placed in as sheltered a position as possible, whilst remaining visible to the collection crews. To assist, and to help ensure your local community remains litter free, please consider the following:

make sure the lock on the top box of the recycling trolley is secured
remember your recycling trolley service is weekly, and we will collect excess in either red/black boxes or bags at the next collection - could you manage until next week?
make sure your waste is fully contained within the recycling trolley/bin and that bin lids are fully closed
put your recycling trolley/bin out on collection day rather than the night before where you can
if you can, remove your recycling trolley/bin from the kerbside as soon as it's emptied - if you are at work, can you make arrangements with a neighbour?
we may leave your recycling trolley/bin flat on the ground or with the top box stacked within the middle box of the recycling trolley when emptied to prevent them blowing over

You can also take excess recyclate to your nearest Recycling Centre or Recycling Point.

When are your bins/recycling trolley collected

Find out your collection days by viewing your recycling calendar

Our assisted collection service

If you are unable to place your bin or box at the kerbside, and there is not an able bodied person living with you, then we can offer an assisted collection service - a pull out service. To find out if you qualify, contact us and an officer will assess your eligibility. If approved, your bins/boxes will be allocated a pull out sticker which highlights your inclusion in the scheme.