Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose in South Ayrshire
Salena Riley
From acrylic paint to zips, there’s a whole alphabet of items that can be donated and used by others across Ayrshire.
Did you know, thousands of plastic sweetie tubs (the type we get at Christmas) have been donated to three South Ayrshire recycling projects, recycled by charities, and remade into fence posts? Not to mention over 20,000 unwanted bras collected for Against Breast Cancer who, together with their recycling partners, use textile recovery to prevent the bras going into landfill, thus giving them a new lease of life and providing employment and an income for people living in the UK. Any bras genuinely beyond redemption are dismantled and disposed of properly.
Recycling Saturday Prestwick, started in 2021 by local resident Betty Mcdonald, was born from an idea around how to recycle medicine blister packs that could not be recycled in household waste. Betty began a monthly collection with the aim of keeping as much as possible out of landfill. It has now evolved exponentially into the success that it is today, with the ever-popular monthly collection event supported by over 20 volunteers a month. It is a hive of activity where hundreds of items are donated, collected, and taken away for recycling, reusing or repurposing. In addition, the Recycling Saturday Facebook page encourages residents from Prestwick, Ayr and surrounding villages to offer their unwanted wares, for free, for people to collect from them (one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, after all).
There is also a Re-make with Recycling Saturday monthly event run by me, at Carnegie Library, where you can come along with your favourite crafts to swap craft ideas, learn new skills, and repurpose and reuse everyday items. This includes the making of Morsbags using material no longer fit for purpose, like duvets and curtains. Last year, The Prestwick Pod made over 600 Morsbags given away for free at the Prestwick Prom Day, this year they’re aiming for 800.
Once Recycling Saturday Prestwick began, there was no stopping it, with volunteers in Troon and Ayr also setting up their own groups.
Morag from Recycling Saturday Troon offers a smaller scale of recycling, with particular focus on items that can be used by other organisations, such as old stamps, milk bottle tops, and ring pulls from cans. Volunteers are always welcomed.
Recycle Ayr has a similar model of recycle, reuse and repurpose with a monthly drop-off in Ayr supported by a small army of volunteers. Frances Brown, who runs Recycle Ayr, has secured National Lottery funding to provide secure storage of donated household items and clothing, and transport to collect, helping support residents in need. The group supports The Micah Project with donated clothing to be passed onto those in need. Local pubs collect bottle tops for collection by volunteers, and in turn these are passed onto dog rescue charities to turn them into much needed funds.
Frances shared with me how over 5kg of plastic milk bottle tops were donated in March alone. Not a lot it may seem, but when you realise that equates to over 3,850 milk bottle tops in one month, it’s quite a number. Imagine if we all did this in Ayrshire!
After speaking with Betty, Morag and Frances, the key message I took away from them is about how people love to recycle – they just need to know where to take it.
can you help?
Do you have a minimum of 30 minutes a month to volunteer and help? To find out more you can visit the respective Facebook groups for dates and what can be donated each month. Also, check out Morsbag The Prestwick Pod.
Recycling Saturday Prestwick
First Saturday of the month 10.30 – 11.00am
Prestwick Community Centre Car Park, Prestwick
Recycling Saturday Troon
Third Saturday of the month 10.30 – 11.00am
Marr College Car Park, Troon
Recycle Ayr
First Saturday of the month 11.00am – 12 noon
Newton Primary School, Ayr
