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- Feature
- 25 July, 2024
There are many ways to dispose of your garden waste, including our garden waste collection service, the reuse and recycling centres and the Green St Green weekend site.
If you can travel, you could take your garden waste to Waldo Road or Churchfields Road reuse and recycling centre. The centres accept garden waste all year round but check webcams and opening hours first, to help plan your visit at less busy times.
Another option is to take your garden waste to one of the temporary garden waste sites. However, if you’re a frequent gardener and need to dispose of garden waste regularly, for an annual fee of £70 our garden waste home collection service might suit you.
If you are considering allowing somebody else to dispose of your waste, please be wary of unsolicited calls from people offering to get rid of your waste. Unscrupulous operators could fly-tip it in a quiet road or green space to avoid paying the cost of legitimate waste disposal, and you could be fined up to £5,000 if you have not made proper checks. Ask for their waste carrier registration details and verify them by checking www.gov.uk/find-registered-waste-carrier. Legitimate waste carriers won’t mind being asked what will happen with your waste and will be prepared to give you proof that your waste will be disposed of appropriately.
Green garden waste wheelie bin collection service
Our green garden waste wheelie bin collection, exclusive to residents in the borough, is ideal if you are a frequent gardener or if you are unable to home-compost large amounts of garden waste yourself.
How much does it cost?
£70 for 12 months, which equates to just £1.35 a week. For this, you will receive a large 240-litre wheelie bin to place your green garden waste in and a collection every two weeks.
Delivery times
If your order is to join the service, we will deliver your new green garden waste bin in approximately two weeks. You do not have to be in to receive the wheeled bin as we will leave it in a safe place on your property.
Access
Some property types may not be suitable for collections of green garden waste from a wheeled bin.
Containers should be visible and easily accessible to the crew on collection day and presented at the edge of your property. This may not be possible for all properties.
Our collection teams will not be able to move fully laden wheeled bins over gravel paths or multiple steps, and subscriptions may be disallowed if clear access is not available.
Please see below for terms and conditions of service.
Service subscription terms and conditions
Subscription terms and conditions
Apply or renew
Apply for green garden waste collection
What can go in the wheelie bin?
- Grass cuttings
- Leaves
- Prunings
- Hedge trimmings
Green garden waste can be placed directly in the wheelie bin, there’s no need to use bags or sacks.
We cannot accept:
- Rubble
- Soil
- Food or household waste
- Flower pots or anything made of plastic
How often is my garden waste collected?
During the nine months of the gardening season (March to November), you will receive a collection every other week. For the remaining three months of the year, collections will be made once a month.
Check your next collection day.
Green garden waste calendars (PDF)
Where does the garden waste go?
We take your garden waste to a composting facility where it is treated and turned into compost and then used on farms as a soil improver.
Green garden waste sack collection service
We provide a chargeable collection service for bagged green garden waste which we compost.
For those that have green garden waste sack stickers at home, the collections are operating during this time, and bookings can be made for future collections through our free phone line or email.
Stickers are purchased through our libraries or the Civic Centre when they are open.
Details
All you need to do is purchase a sticker and attach it to a standard-size refuse sack containing your green garden waste. Each sticker costs £1.90 (non-refundable).
To book a collection, call the freephone hotline Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm or simply email us with your full name, address and postcode stating the number of sacks you want us to collect.
We will then tell you the day your collection will be made and give you a booking reference number. Please place your garden waste in a standard-size refuse sack (not exceeding 20kg which should be easy enough for the average person to lift) at the front edge of your property in a visible location for our collection crews by 7 am on the day of collection.
We will be in your area every two weeks and collections are allocated on a pre-booked basis – subject to the available capacity of the vehicle.
We can accept and compost:
- Grass cuttings
- Leaves
- Prunings
- Hedge trimmings
We cannot accept:
- Rubble
- Soil
- Food or household waste
- Plastic and flower pots
On the day of the collection:
- Place the sticker on your sack. Please use only standard-size refuse sacks – not large builder bags or skip bags.
- Place your sack at the front edge of your property nearest to the road in a visible location for our collection crews by 7 am, please.
- Remember, as we need to pick up the sack, it must be strong enough to hold together when lifted but light enough to be carried by the average person.
Garden waste bin collection service
If you frequently purchase our garden waste stickers, it may be cheaper to subscribe to our garden waste bin collection service.
