Household waste and recycling

Garden waste collections

From April 2024, there is a charge for garden waste (brown bin) collections.

If you would like us to empty your brown bin, you will need to sign-up for our garden waste collection service below and pay a subscription charge for the year.

If you don't want to subscribe, that's fine. At the end of this page we've suggested other ways you can dispose of garden waste and what to do with your brown bin, if you have one.

Sign-up for brown bin collections – 2024/25

If you subscribe, we'll collect your brown bin every 2 weeks starting from the 2 weeks beginning Monday 8 April 2024 through to the 2 weeks ending Friday 21 February 2025.

Your brown bin will be collected on the same day as your blue bin.

There will be no winter 'seasonal pause' in 2024/25, which means we'll collect brown bins during the Christmas and New Year period this year.

The 2024/25 annual subscription charge starts at £80 for the collection of 1 brown bin. This must be paid by credit card or debit card when you subscribe.

We can provide additional brown bins to the property as part of your subscription. Each additional bin collection is charged at £50.

You can subscribe for yourself or on behalf of someone else.

Sign-up for garden waste collections

You can read the full terms and conditions of service below.

Garden waste collection service terms and conditions (PDF 120.24KB)

Whether you sign-up at the start of the year or midway through the year:

  • the start and end dates of the subscription period are the same for everyone
  • you must pay the full amount of the subscription charge

To make the most of your subscription, it's best to sign-up before the subscription period starts.

How the service works

When you subscribe and we receive your payment, we'll send a permit sticker and instructions to the household property. These will be delivered within 10 working days. The sticker must be stuck to the brown bin as shown in the instructions.

Each permit sticker is unique and valid only at the property to which it is sent.

We will only collect brown bins that show a valid permit sticker for the property.

If we're unable to collect brown bins in your street on the expected day, we'll return for them on the next working day. If your usual day is a Friday, we'll normally return on the next Monday – 3 days later – even if it's after the final week of the subscription period or during a seasonal pause.

Managing your subscription

After you have subscribed, you can use the form below to manage your garden waste subscription. You can add another brown bin, request a replacement permit, cancel a subscription or request a refund.

Manage my garden waste subscription

When your 2024/25 subscription ends

To keep receiving brown bin collections after mid-February 2025, you'll be asked to renew your subscription. You must renew the subscription each year if you would like it to continue.

Each subscription period lasts 46 weeks. This means in total we would usually collect brown bins 23 times a year for each household that subscribes.

There will be no winter seasonal pause in 2024/25. This means 2025/26 subscription period will start from the 2 weeks beginning Monday 24 February 2025.

From 2026, subscriptions will start from the week that begins with the first Monday in February. From December 2026 there will be a 6-week seasonal pause each winter. This web page will always tell you when subscription periods start and end each year.

If you choose not to have brown bin collections

If you don't sign-up to our garden waste subscription service, there are other ways you can recycle or dispose of your garden waste. For example:

Your brown bin can be:

  • kept for your own use – for example, as storage
  • taken to the HWRC where it can be recycled

If you no longer want your brown bin and cannot travel to the HWRC, we will be offering a collection service for unwanted bins later this year. Details will be published on this page and shared locally, when confirmed.