Brown bin collections are going to cost £40 a year in Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent City Council are going to increase the cost of their garden waste collections and make it an opt-in subscription service.

Residents will now be asked if they wish to opt-in to brown bin collections with effect from Monday 1 April 2024, and pay £40 per annum/per bin for the service.

The council says it does not have a legal obligation to provide brown bin collections and following a full review of council services and finances, it was decided that brown bin collections will now be an opt-in, paid-for service for residents who wish to maintain a garden waste collection service.

People will now need to subscribe

Councillor Amjid Wazir, cabinet member for city pride, enforcement, and sustainability, said: “Not everyone needs or uses the garden waste service, and making it a self-funded service enables us to provide the service for those who want it, and maintain the fortnightly general waste collection. There is no legal obligation for councils to collect garden waste free of charge, and we see nationally that around 70% of local authorities have introduced a subscription service. Residents in Stoke-on-Trent with gardens can decide if they would like to receive a garden waste collection and it will be an opt-in, self-funding service.

“We recognise that some of our residents are suffering considerable financial challenges, and we have therefore kept the charge as low as practically possible - it works out at £1.60 per collection. This cost could also be split with neighbours to keep the cost low for families.”

Final one-off collection

In order to provide residents with the opportunity to easily dispose of any garden waste which may already have accumulated in their brown bin - and also to provide them with a little more time to subscribe to the garden waste collection service, all households will receive a one-off collection of garden waste before the subscription period commences on Monday 1 April 2024.

Residents are asked to present their garden waste bin on their scheduled recycling day during the weeks of Monday 18 March and Monday 25 March.

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