South Ayrshire Council - News - Recycling Centre Opened in Troon

NEW COMMUNITY RECYCLING CENTRE OPENED IN TROON

Councillor Alistair Kerr, the Convener of South Ayrshire Council’s Commercial and Business Services Committee has officially opened the new Community Recycling Centre at Port Ranald Drive in Troon.

Funding for the new recycling facility came from the Scottish Government’s Strategic Waste Fund, which was set up to ensure Scotland complied with European legislation on waste management and recycling.

Children from primary schools were at the official opening along with invited guests that included representatives from the Council, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), representatives from Troon, Loans, Dundonald and Symington and Monkton Community Councils, Scottish Waste Awareness Group and others who have been involved in the establishment and construction of the site.

Councillor Alistair Kerr said: “The opening was a real community event with people from different organisations joining together to celebrate the new site. I was particularly pleased that the school children were there, protecting the environment is important and people need to learn this early on in life.

“The new facility was carefully designed in line with the Council’s Strategic Waste Plan to encourage the residents of Troon and surrounding communities to recycle even more of their household waste.

The new site is very ‘user-friendly’, the old site had outgrown its use and simply did not have the recycling capacity required to serve the residents of Troon and surrounding towns and villages in future years. The state of the art site should ensure maximum separation and recycling of waste materials.”

A one-way traffic flow system that was designed, engineered and constructed by the Council is operating within the site to ensure that large service vehicles are separated from members of the public. The system means that the new site is much safer than the old facility that was often congested.

The Port Ranald Drive development features modern traversing compactors and containers that have to provide the maximum storage capacity and payload for efficient transportation of the waste to recycling processors. Each of the containers has the capacity to hold 10 to 12 tonnes of waste and this will significantly reduce the number of vehicles going to and from the site.

A bay in the site holds 16 tonnes of compost that has been made from the contents collected from brown wheeled bins in South Ayrshire. All the garden waste collected from brown wheeled bins is taken to a centralised composting plant in Ardeer, where it is chipped and shredded before being processed into finished compost.

Members of the public will be able to purchase compost after buying an environmentally friendly reusable 70 litre capacity Hessian sack for £2 at the Town Buildings in Troon. The hessian sack will be sold to the public at the same price as the Council purchase it so there will be no profit from the sale of the sacks. For safety purposes the compost scheme will operate on a voucher basis system so that staff at the Troon Community Recycling Centre do not need to process cash. A voucher which costs £2 will also be required which will allow a member of the public to go to the site, fill their sack with compost and take it home. The vouchers will be on sale within the garage at Morrisons in Troon and at the Town Buildings in Troon.

Councillor Kerr continued: “The introduction of selling compost closes the loop in terms of recycling garden waste in South Ayrshire. The compost has been made from the waste collected from the brown wheeled bins.

“Many residents in South Ayrshire have asked if they could purchase compost made from the garden waste collected by the Council. The Council has listened to the comments and that is why the compost will now be on sale at Troon.

“The sale of compost from the Troon site will be closely monitored and if the system proves successful consideration will be given to extending the sale at other locations across South Ayrshire.”

The Community Recycling Centre in Troon will be open as follows:

Monday to Friday 10 am to 8 pm April to August

10 am to 7 pm September

10 am to 5 pm October and February

10 am to 4 pm November to January

10 am to 6 pm March

Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4pm All Year

The site has a full range of recycling banks and containers for paper, cardboard, cans, glass, wood, rubble, metals, garden waste, batteries, oil, textiles, shoes, gas cylinders, fridges and white goods.

Leaflets which contain information about the new facility will be delivered in the Troon area to encourage as many people as possible to take additional household waste items there, and also to highlight the compost which will be on sale.

Anyone who would like further information about waste management in South Ayrshire should log on to the Council’s website at or contact staff on the Recycling Helpline on 0845 601 20 20.

Councillor Alistair Kerr, Convener of South Ayrshire Council’s Commercial and Business Services Committee officially opens the new Community Recycling Centre at Port Ranald Drive in Troon, with the help of children from local primary schools, watched by the local councillor for Troon South, Councillor Peter Convery and representatives from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), local community councils, the Scottish Waste Awareness Group and others involved in the establishment and construction of the site.

June 2006