Waste Schemes & Initiatives
Littering
We take a serious line with littering.
Under the Litter (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (as amended), it is a criminal offence to drop litter or dump rubbish.
Anyone dropping may be fined a fixed penalty notice (up to £120, £80 if paid within the agreed timeframe) or a fine of up to £2,500 for more serious offences.
Please note: cigarette butts and chewing gum are considered litter.
The Fixed Penalty Notice for Fly-tipping is £400 (reduced to £300 if paid within 10 days).
We were successful in securing Marine Litter Capital Grant funding to create the below educational video on littering.
Get involved!
Live Here Love Here Campaign
Adopt a Spot (provision of cleansing kit)
Connecting communities, one Spot at a time
Adopt A Spot is a community-based volunteer programme focused on minimising litter and promoting civic pride.
Families, community groups, youth groups, schools, businesses and sporting associations are all encouraged to help foster a healthier, greener and cleaner Northern Ireland by adopting and caring for a neglected area.
Your 'Spot' could be an overgrown alleyway, a mile of your favourite beach that is always full of litter, a local park that has seen better days, or even the street you live on.
If you can think of an area in need of a little TLC, why not adopt it?
For further information on adopting a local spot, visit the Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful website.
Partnership Work
We work with a wide range of local litter-picking volunteers.
They range from individuals, small to medium-sized groups, right up to the very well-established:
Eco Rangers NI
Eco Rangers NI are a volunteer group founded by necessity in October 2020.
They wish to improve and promote the environment by clearing unsightly polluting litter throughout Mid and East Antrim and surrounding areas.
Promoting civic pride, they make their towns and district an example for others to follow.
Their basic aims can be seen in the rules section of their page.
If you would like to be an Eco Ranger volunteer please complete the Eco-Rangers' online form.
If you cannot complete the forms and need our assistance then please contact ecorangersni@gmail.com.
County Antrim Countryside Custodians
County Antrim Countryside Custodians is an environmental awareness group.
They share environmental news along with hints and tips as to how to adopt a more eco-friendly lifestyle.
They also support local communities through school initiatives and recycling programmes and arrange eco-friendly events in order to demonstrate how our ideas can be put into practice.
They carry out litter picks within County Antrim often supporting local community groups in order to help preserve our beautiful countryside and tie in with other litter-picking events elsewhere creating a network of volunteers.
Their aim is to show how easy it is for anyone to make small changes in an affordable manner in order to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle and also create family-friendly events to raise environmental awareness.
The group provides an opportunity for like-minded people to come together to create positive change whilst the litter picks also encourage both good physical and mental health and the chance to form new friendships.
Need help with your recycling?
We have a number of online and downloadable leaflets detailing what is collected in your kerbside collection and what waste streams you can bring to your local Household Recycling Centre.
Home Recycling Leaflet including links to multi-languages
Household Recycling Centre Leaflet
Community RePaint
Council are now working in partnership with Community RePaint to divert full or partially full paint tins to our residents for local community and school projects.
About the scheme
Our scheme in Mid and East Antrim is run by Council. It is operated through the network of local Household Recycling Centres (HRCs) – Waveney Road HRC, Redlands HRC and Sullatober HRC.
At these sites, you can drop off leftover paint from your home or collect paint for your home or local project.
Drop off leftover paint
If you are a resident within Mid and East Antrim borough and you have leftover paint from your home that you’d like to pass on for reuse, visit the drop-off point on-site at the three above HRCs, to leave your paint.
Groups and individuals will then be able to access the site to collect the paint and use it locally.
Find opening times for the household waste recycling centre here.
As this drop-off point is run by the Council, the site is unable to accept paint donations from businesses.
If you are a trader, retailer, manufacturer or other business with leftover paint, click here to find out how you can donate your leftover paint for reuse through the Community RePaint network.
Please note, if you live outside Mid and East Antrim borough, you will not be eligible to access the site.
If there is no drop-off point in your local borough, you will need to contact your local Council for guidance on what to do with your leftover paint.
Collect paint for your home or project
If you are an individual or group from the local area you can get free paint from this scheme.
If you would like to know what volume and range of paint colours we have at your local HRC, please visit them in person to browse what is on offer.
The HRC staff will guide you to the RePaint shed on site.
Refillution
Have you got the bottle for a Refillution?
Because you can change the world with tap water.
Each time you refill a reusable water bottle, you cut plastic pollution, get world-class water, and save a bit of cash!
Mid and East Antrim also benefits from a network of water fountains where residents and visitors to the area can refill their reusable water bottle, on the go!
Council have joined the Refillution campaign to encourage everyone to refill a reusable water bottle with tap water and stop buying single-use plastic bottles.
By switching to reusable bottles we can all help reduce plastic waste!
Why not take the NI Water Refillution pledge and start saving water and cutting down on single-use plastics today?
“I promise I’ll do my very best to:
- Always refill from the tap
- Always use a reusable bottle
- Remember to carry my reusable bottle with me
- Tell my friends about the #Refillution”
We now also have four new refill fountains located at Ballygally, Carnfunnock Country Park, Blackhead Path and at Portmuck.
Why not refill on the go and avoid purchasing unnecessary plastic bottles?
For more info, check out the NI Water Refillution page or contact our Waste team directly at T: 0300 124 5000 - Option 0 - or email: waste.helpdesk@midandeastantrim.gov.uk.