Fees for Wiltshire Council garden waste collections going up AGAIN

The authority's increased the charge by £6 this year, with renewals now open

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 20th Jun 2023

The cost of having your green-lidded garden waste bin collected in Wiltshire is going up AGAIN.

Renewal letters have been sent out to residents using the service, asking for £66 for the annual fee.

That's an increase of £6 this year, after a £10 rise last year as well.

On their website, Wiltshire Council say:

"The cost of having garden waste collected has increased from £60 per bin to £66 per bin for the year which reflects current inflation levels and provides some recovery of operational costs. The Controlled Waste Regulations (England and Wales) 2012 allow councils to apply a charge for the collection of garden waste."

Households who use the garden waste service and want to continue it on, will need to renew by the end of June, to avoid missing a collection.

There's another change to this year's collections as well - with stickers no longer being sent out to show Wiltshire Council refuse teams that the subscription's been paid.

Instead, crews will be using 'in-vehicle technology' to identify where they should be picking up waste, with households asked to put their door number on the bin to help with that identification.

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Environment, said:

“From 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 we collected just under 27,000 tonnes of garden waste from over 84,000 households in Wiltshire. All of the garden waste collected in Wiltshire is composted locally, which helps reduce pollution and also diverts waste from landfill.

“Wiltshire residents can buy this bagged compost from any of our household recycling centres or directly from Hills Waste Solutions if larger volumes are required.

“As with composting all the garden waste material we collect, we are keen to recycle as much as possible of the other kerbside waste we generate in Wiltshire. We recently launched our new awareness campaign, ‘Recycling: Let’s sort it’, to provide people with more information about what can and can’t be recycled and we’ve been pleased with the response so far. Please do visit our website to find out more and help us to reduce waste and pollution to protect the environment.

“I thank residents in advance for ensuring their house numbers are on the bin and all their support in helping us recycle as much as possible.”

There's more information about signing up for the service on the Wiltshire Council website |newtab) or by calling 0300 456 0103.

Garden waste bins are emptied fortnightly except for two weeks over Christmas and New Year.

Bark, grass cuttings, cut flowers, weeds, leaves, hedge clippings, twigs and small branches can go into the green-lidded bins.

But we can't dispose of fruit and vegetable peelings, food waste, cardboard, paper, soil and rubble or pet litter and animal waste in them.

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