LEAH McMahon from Mayfield Primary has won a competition which will see her design for a new bin mascot ‘come to life’.

Leah’s design for a new purple bin character was entered as part of a competition which ran over the summer through the council’s acclaimed holiday school meals programme.

The initiative invited young people to help come up with the design and name for a new purple bin mascot which will be introduced as part of the council’s plans for enhanced recycling service beginning in April 2019.

Almost 100 colourful entries were submitted by youngsters. These were whittled down to a top six and the tough task of selecting a winner was left to Provost Ian Clarkson and Councillor Jim Montgomerie, Cabinet Member for Place.

Leah’s winning design, named ‘Poppy’, features a number of hearts to demonstrate that she loves to recycle.

Poppy will now come to life in the form of a life-sized mascot and join the three other bin characters – Bella the Blue Bin, Gary the Grey Bin and Bonnie the Brown Bin – in helping to promote waste and recycling to a younger audience.

Provost Clarkson said: “We were delighted with the response to our competition and Leah was the rightful winner. Her design was superb and fitted the brief perfectly as it was colourful and fun.

“We look forward to seeing Leah’s design transform into a life-sized mascot which will tour our communities on the lead up to the introduction of our purple bin next April.”

The new purple bin will be introduced next April as part of the council’s plans for an enhanced recycling and waste collection service for those living on the mainland and Cumbrae.

Once introduced, the purple bin will be used to dispose of glass, cans and plastics. This will free up space in the blue bin which will instead solely be used for paper and cardboard.

This new purple bin, along with the blue and grey bins, will be collected as part of a three-weekly cycle which will see one of the bins collected each week. The brown food and garden waste bin will continue to be collected fortnightly.

Councillor Jim Montgomerie, Cabinet Member for Place, said: “We recognise that in order for our plans for an enhanced waste and recycling service to be successful, we must engage with a wide variety of residents – not just home owners.

“Our young people are incredibly savvy and we know from experience that they are often the ones who keep their parents/carers right when it comes to putting the right stuff in the right bin at home.”

For more information on the bin collection changes and how they will affect you, visit the council’s website at: www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/ binchanges