North Ayrshire bin collection days: the four bins explained
How to check your bin day in Irvine, Kilwinning, Saltcoats, Largs and across North Ayrshire, and the three-week rotation that catches people out.
North Ayrshire runs one of the more unusual bin schedules in Scotland: three of the four bins are collected every three weeks. That's great for recycling rates and terrible for remembering which bin goes out. Here's the system, and how to stop thinking about it.
Find your bin day
North Ayrshire Council has a "Check your bin day" portal - enter your postcode (with the space), pick your property, and it shows your collections. You can download a calendar from there too; the council publishes them by collection route, which is why you'll see PDFs with names like "3b bin calendar". Handy if you know your route number. Most people don't.
North Ayrshire Bins does the same lookup once, remembers your address, and shows your next collection every time you open it. Covers every address in the council area - Irvine, Kilwinning, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, Stevenston, Largs, West Kilbride, Dalry, Kilbirnie, Beith and the villages between.
The four bins
| Bin | What goes in | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Grey | General (residual) waste | Every 3 weeks |
| Blue | Paper, card and cardboard | Every 3 weeks |
| Purple | Glass, cans, plastics and cartons | Every 3 weeks |
| Brown | Food and garden waste | Every 2 weeks |
The purple bin is the one that confuses newcomers - glass goes in it, alongside cans and plastics. Nothing recyclable goes in plastic bags: the council won't empty a blue, purple or brown bin with bags in it, and you'll come home to a tag on the lid.
Arran is different (grey and blue alternate weekly), and Cumbrae follows the mainland pattern.
Why three weeks is hard
A fortnightly rotation you can hold in your head: "it's the other one this week." A three-week cycle with a fortnightly brown bin layered on top is not something anyone remembers. Some weeks it's two bins, some weeks one, and after a bank holiday the whole thing shifts. This is exactly the problem a reminder solves - North Ayrshire Bins Pro sends a notification before each collection so the right bin is out before 7am, which is the council's cut-off.
Tagged bin?
If a bin's been tagged, it had something in it that shouldn't be there. Take the wrong item out, remove the tag, and put it out again on the next collection day - the crew won't come back for it in between. Extra bags beside a bin won't be taken either; that's what the Household Waste Recycling Centres are for.
About the app
North Ayrshire Bins is one of my bin collection apps for Scottish councils - the same approach as Fife Bins, which started it all. It's free, Pro removes ads and adds reminders, and it's independent: the dates come from North Ayrshire Council, the app is mine. If anything looks wrong, tell me from inside the app.
