What can be recycled?
The following items can be recycled, however, please check individual sites to see arrangements in place for each site and opening hours.
Please note: soil can only be taken to Bartonholm Household Waste Recycling Centre.
What can be recycled?
| Item | Recycling centre | Recycling points | Doorstep | Participating Supermarkets |
|---|
| Batteries (except car batteries) |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Bikes |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Books |
✔ |
✔ |
|
|
| Bras (look for the pink Breast Cancer Now banks) |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Building materials |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Cardboard (larger quantities) |
✔ |
|
|
|
| CDs and DVDs |
✔ |
✔ |
|
|
| Clothes (Textiles, sheets, blankets, towels, curtains and handbags). |
✔ |
✔ |
|
|
| Computer equipment |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Cooking oil |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Disposable vapes |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Electricals |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Fluorescent light bulbs |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Food waste |
|
|
✔ |
|
| Furniture |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Garden waste |
✔ |
|
✔ |
|
| Glass bottles and jars, cans, plastic (bottles, pots, tubs, trays and cartons) |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
|
| MDF (Bartonholm, Kilbirnie and Largs Recycling Centres only), chipboard*, laminate* |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Motor oil |
✔ |
|
|
|
| Paper and Cardboard |
✔ |
✔ |
✔ |
|
| Plastic bags, soft plastic wraps and liners** |
|
|
|
✔ |
| Shoes only (tied together or bagged in pairs) |
✔ |
✔ |
|
|
| Wood* and timber (all non-processed) |
✔ |
|
|
|
*Please do not deposit for recycling; chipboard, laminate or wood which is attached to other materials such as felt or wire.
**Please recycle your plastic bags, soft plastic wraps, liners etc at participating supermarkets.
Stores in North Ayrshire currently offering this service are:
• Asda, Irvine Store
• Co-op Stores (soft plastic packaging in all mainland stores, plastic bags in mainland stores over 3000sq ft)
• Morrisons Stores
• Tesco, Superstores and Extra’s
The above list may change from time to time please check with your local supermarket for details.
Paint and Paint Cans
Liquid paint is not collected at our household waste recycling centres. Consider whether you can donate leftover paint for reuse locally by contacting a local community group, charity, youth or religious group, art college, amateur dramatic society, sports club, neighbour, work colleague, relative or friend. For larger quantities of reasonable quality paint, consider advertising it on Gumtree, Freegle and Freecycle as well as other local advertising options.
If you are unable to reuse the paint you can find help and advice on how to harden paint on the Zero Waste Scotland website. Paint that is fully hardened can be disposed of within the residual waste skips in the HWRC or general waste bin. You should pierce the dried paint first before taking it to a recycling centre to make sure it's fully hardened.
Car Batteries
Car batteries are classed as hazardous waste and aren’t accepted with our kerbside collection or at our Household Waste Recycling Centres. For more information and help on how to dispose of your old car battery safely, please see Zero Waste Scotland's guidance on car batteries.
Compost giveaway
Almost 12,000 tonnes of food and garden waste is collected from North Ayrshire each year, to be recycled into compost.
If you are part of a community garden scheme, or allotment organisation, please contact us to see if we can supply compost for your members use.