East Ayrshire bin collections
East Ayrshire is moving to four-weekly bins. The Cumnock area switched from May 2026 and Kilmarnock from October 2026, putting general waste, all three recycling bins and garden waste on a four-week cycle. The food caddy stays weekly.
Which bin is which in East Ayrshire
Green is general waste, the blue-top bin is paper and cardboard, the red-top takes plastics, cartons, cans and metals, and glass goes in the purple-top. Put them out the night before or by 6.30am.
Christmas and New Year collections 2026
Only two days move. Christmas Day's collections go out on Sunday 27 December and New Year's Day's on Sunday 3 January, and every other day from 21 to 31 December is normal. Up to three extra rubbish sacks are taken with your first general waste collection after Christmas Day.
| Usual day | Collected on |
|---|---|
| Friday 25 December | Sunday 27 December |
| Friday 1 January | Sunday 3 January |
Garden waste: £47.50 a year
£47.50 per bin for the 2026 permit, and that's the full charge whenever you join. Permits can't be cancelled. Collections run every four weeks from February to November, so there's nothing more until February 2027. Permit holders can buy extra garden waste bags at £1 each, in packs of five.
Weekly food waste collection
Weekly. You get a silver kitchen caddy and a green outdoor one, and liners are required.
Recycling centres in East Ayrshire
Both recycling centres need a Residents' Recycling Permit and a booked time slot, and they're open seven days a week.
- Western Road recycling centre, Kilmarnock KA3 1LL booking needed
- Skares Road recycling centre, Garlaff, near Cumnock KA18 2RB booking needed
Worth knowing in East Ayrshire
Real Christmas trees can go to the recycling centres, since the garden bins won't be collected again until February.
Get told the night before
Binformation is a free Android app. Put your postcode in once and it sends a notification the evening before each collection, saying which bins are going. If the council moves your day for a bank holiday, the reminder moves with it.
Where this comes from
Every fact on this page was read from the council's own website, last checked on 26 October 2026. Councils change prices each April, so check the link before you pay for anything.
- Collection frequency: east-ayrshire.gov.uk
- Garden waste: east-ayrshire.gov.uk
- Christmas collections: east-ayrshire.gov.uk
- Recycling centres: east-ayrshire.gov.uk
Linking to this page is fine. Scraping it, or copying the council information in bulk, isn't: see the terms of use.
Get Binformation, free on Google Play