A Carnlough woman has started a petition urging a rethink on the introduction of triple-stack bins in Mid and East Antrim.
Sharon Ramsey, a mother of six, is urging the borough council to reconsider a plan to scrap large black bins and blue recycling bins which are used in parts of the borough.
The local authority is currently reviewing its waste collection process.
Ms Ramsey says the triple-stack system is too small and residents should be able to choose the size of bins “suitable to family circumstances”.
In the onllne petition she says: “The new bins are likely ideal for single people or couples. We need to retain the right to choose”.
She suggested that “tiny bins being foisted on families will inevitably lead to fly-tipping”.
“The blue bins can take a lot of volume especially for plastic packaging. With the triple-stack system. the volume is just not there. I think it is a very impractical solution,” she noted.
“They will just defeat the purpose in the long term. It is better to have a lot of bin space than not enough. Why are we paying rates?
“My family produces far more waste than those new proposed bins will hold.”
Ms Ramsey said she does not believe it would “make a difference” if the bins are emptied every week as the council has stated.
“Reducing the size of our bins is not going to disappear all the rubbish."
However, the local authority maintains that “triple stack is the way forward”.
It will mean that householders in the borough's three towns and outlying areas will have the same bins.
Householders will also be supplied with a smaller black bin while brown bins for organic waste will continue to be used.
A council spokesperson said: “We are seeking funding to introduce a new weekly wheeled box system, which will offer householders a third more capacity to dispose of their recycling, replacing the current recycling boxes and blue bins.”
The council believes that the “overall effect will increase the amount of space available for householders to dispose of their waste”.
The spokesperson added: “It would offer householders an improved service and allowing all the waste collected to be re-used in Northern Ireland, cutting costs and safeguarding our environment.”
Commenting on the petition, former TUV Councillor Ruth Wilson said: “The bins have more capacity for effective recycling and ease of lifting by refuse collectors.”
The new triple-stack bins will be funded by Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
