Garden waste collection

Information on how to subscribe to our garden waste collection service.

If you would like to have your garden waste collected in your green bin, you will need to subscribe to our garden waste collection service. This is an opt-in, paid-for service.

The 2024/25 garden waste collection service starts on 26 August 2024 and runs until 24 August 2025.

Please note that you will NOT receive a subscription sticker this year. Thanks to in-cab technology, our collection crews will know which properties are subscribed, eliminating the need for bin stickers. You may want to put your own house number or name sticker on your green bin to help identify which one is yours.

Click here to subscribe to the 2024/25 subscription service.

If you do not subscribe to the garden waste collection service you can compost your garden waste at home or take it to one of our household waste recycling centres free of charge.

On this page:

To find out more about our garden waste collections, please visit our frequently asked questions page.

How to subscribe to the 2024/25 service

Direct Debit renewals

If you are a current subscriber to the 2023/24 collection service and have an active Direct Debit, you do not have to complete the subscription process again for the 2024/25 service, as your subscription will auto-renew. You should have received an email or letter notification of your renewal. If you have not received this, please contact us at gardenwaste@westberks.gov.uk.

New subscribers and non-Direct Debit renewals

If you are a new subscriber, or do not have a current Direct Debit set up, you can subscribe to the 2024/25 Subscription Period pay by Direct Debit or credit/debit card at any time from now and 30 June 2025.

Please be aware that there will be no part-year payment option available. Regardless of when you subscribe, the charges remain fixed throughout the subscription period.

See our frequently asked questions for more information. Please read our updated Icon for pdf terms and conditions [540KB] for the 2024/25 service before subscribing.

Garden waste subscription charges 2024/25

The subscription period runs from 26 August 2024 to 24 August 2025.

The subscription charges for the 2024/25 service are:

Subscription type	Subscription charge
Service charge for 1st green bin (existing subscription renewals and first-time subscribers)	£55
Service charge for renewal of each current 2^nd to 5^th additional bins (This is for existing subscription renewals only where the one-off set-up payment has already been made in a previous subscription year)	£50
Charge for each new additional 2^nd to 5^th bin (please note you can have a total of 5 green bins per household)	£85 (made up as follows: £50 for the service charge and £35 for the one-off set-up)

Payment for the 2024/25 service is by Direct Debit or credit/debit card, which shall be a single payment for the full subscription charge in respect of the forthcoming service period.

We have reduced the first bin subscription charge from £58 to £55 for the 2024/25 service, demonstrating our commitment to both our community and the environment.

Collection

Your green bin will be collected every fortnight on your collection day. You can check your collection day online.

If possible, please place your house name or number on the bin(s) to assist our collection crews. We will be increasing our monitoring to ensure that only subscribed bins are collected. This will include monitoring by collection crews, council officers conducting spot checks, and the removal of green bins presented for collection by non-subscribers.

We will collect grass cuttings, prunings, small twigs and branches, hedge trimmings and leaves, plants and weeds, cut flowers and fallen fruit.

To get the most from your service:

make sure your bin is ready for collection by 6am on your collection day
check what can go in your green bin [2MB]
ensure your bin lid is closed and that there is no excess garden waste left next to the bin
don't overload your bin. If it's too heavy, we won't be able to empty it
make sure you return your bin to your property as soon as possible after collection

Missed collection

If your bin was not collected, you should have received a bin hanger on your bin explaining why. If you didn't receive a bin hanger, please check the lists above and below before reporting a missed collection.

If possible, please place your house name or number on the bin(s) to assist our collection crews.

Have you:

checked if there are there any issues affecting the service - you can check the service status online or follow us on Facebook
got the correct materials in the bin

You can read more about missed bin collections, here.

Food waste

Food waste must be placed into your food waste caddy for collection; see our food waste page for more information.

Excess garden waste

We do not collect excess garden waste. If you have too much garden waste for your green bin, you can order and pay for an additional garden waste subscription or, alternatively, you can take excess garden waste (for free) to one of our recycling centres.

You can also compost your garden and food waste at home.

Sack collections

If you have sack collections, please see our sack collections webpage for more details.