From Monday 18 July 2022, Buckinghamshire Council will offer a single chargeable ‘opt-in’ Garden Waste collection service, at a cost of £50* per bin, per year.
*properties not suitable for wheeled bins will be issued with reusable bags
This means anyone who has previously received free collections of garden waste will now have to subscribe, paying an annual fee to continue receiving fortnightly kerbside garden waste collections from the council.
Why our service is changing
Councils are not required by law to collect garden waste free of charge and not everyone uses the service. Making it an opt-in service will mean that only those who use it pay.
How and when to sign up
You can sign up and pay for the service online any time from Monday 13 June.
You are encouraged to sign up for the service before it begins on 18 July.
The annual charge of £50 per bin will run from 18 July 2022 until the end of July 2023. If you sign up after this time, you will receive a year’s service from the first payment date.
Properties not suitable for wheeled bins will be issued with reusable bags.
After you sign up to the new service
Garden waste collections
Collections will take place fortnightly with a 6-week suspension during December and January.
Garden waste stickers
You will receive a sticker to put on your bin or bag to show that you have registered for the service, this is how we know that you have signed up.
If you haven’t received your sticker but have registered and paid for a valid subscription, your garden waste container will still be emptied. Please place your sticker on your bin or bag as soon as it arrives as this helps our crews easily identify which containers are eligible for collection.
Garden waste bins
If you haven’t had the service previously, we will supply a new bin or bag. We will not be providing a new garden waste container if there is already one in use at the property. If your bin or bag is broken, you can request a replacement bin
Additional garden waste bins
There is no maximum amount of garden waste bins you can have. They are all charged at £50 per bin per year. Additional subscriptions can start at any time but will be charged at the same rate and will expire at the same time as the first subscription. We are not able to pro rata additional subscription charges.
All containers (bins or bags) are charged at £50 per container, per year. There are no discounts available for multiple bins.
If you don’t want to sign up to the new service
If you do not wish to subscribe to the new service:
- your final Garden Waste collection will take place during the weeks commencing Monday 4 July or Monday 11 July, depending on your current schedule
- you may wish to keep your bin to use for storage of additional waste in between collections (you can reuse your bin such as converting it into a water butt or compost bin)
- you can instead dispose of garden waste at home by composting or you can take garden waste to your nearest Household Recycling Centre to recycle free of charge
If you do not wish to reuse your bin, we will be able to collect your bin after 6 months.
