Men talking rubbish isn’t unusual at meetings of Largs Probus Club, so it was quite appropriate to receive a very interesting and enjoyable talk by Lindy Floyd of North Ayrshire Council’s Waste Awareness Team on how the Council deal with the many tonnes of waste collected from households in North Ayrshire.
Some 1.35 million tonnes of food and drink are wasted in Scotland and Lindy gave some tips on minimising such waste, including photographing your fridge contents when you go shopping and using yesterday’s dinner leftovers for today’s lunch.
Recycling was an important part of her talk and for this to be successful the right stuff had to go in the right bin. The Purple bin takes plastics that can be squeezed e.g. all bottles, tubs, trays and pots (not hard plastic toys); metals such as cans, coffee pods, clean foil and aerosols, then juice, soup and milk cartons. Glass bottles can also go in the purple bin, but not broken drinking glasses or pyrex, as these have a much higher melting point in the glass recycling process.
The Blue bin is solely for paper and card and the Brown bin for food waste, both cooked and uncooked, and garden waste including branches and hedges but not timber. Everything else goes in the Grey bin, including hard plastics such as toys, polystyrene, plastic and black bags, animal waste or bedding, etc. Lindy asked that all items going for recycling be clean and loose and stressed that batteries, vapes and other devices containing batteries are a potential fire risk and cannot go in any of the domestic bins.
The Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company was referred to as a way of disposing of good quality furniture, beds and mattresses with free collection. More information is available on www.cfrcltd.org.uk
Lindy highlighted the journey the waste from North Ayrshire goes on detailing the grey bins contents going to Shewalton then by Viridor lorries to Bargeddie and ending up in Dunbar where it is converted to provide heat and electricity. For those who may be interested this short video takes you behind the scenes in Dunbar.
The talk raised lots of questions from members on the correct bin for those items that are a mixture of two materials such as cardboard packets with a plastic film insert and plastic envelopes with stuffing inside. Generally, the message was if in doubt use the Grey bin. One question remained unanswered though – how did an North Ayrshire Council bin turn up in a German village?!
Gordon Law gave a vote of thanks for an interesting an informative talk although there were concerns that introducing booking systems to Recycling Centres was another hurdle which could encourage fly tipping.
Lindy has kindly provided the following links that explain everything, ate least for those living in North Ayrshire!
Waste collection: Bin collection days. You can also report a missed collection on this page.
Assisted collection service: Information on eligibility criteria and a form to apply is here: Bin pull out service
More general information on recycling: Recycling
The youtube video for what happens to your grey bin waste is here: Turning waste into energy – North Ayrshire Council
You can book a slot for the Household Waste Recycling Centres here: Household Waste Recycling Centres Slots can also be booked over the phone on 01294 310000 or in person at local offices, in Arran, Irvine, Largs, and Saltcoats.
Why not join us at our next meeting?
New members are always welcomed at the Club. If you are 50 or over, retired, or nearing retirement, (men only, I’m afraid, sorry ladies) you can attend three meetings as a guest and find out what a relaxed and friendly time we have. That’s plenty of time to decide whether to become a Club member or not. Please check out our programme and email info@largsprobus.org.uk if you wish to attend as a guest, or to enquire about joining.
Largs Probus Club will next meet in the Willowbank Hotel on Wednesday 11th June at 10.00am when Elaine Thomson will speak on the Ayrshire Hospice.