When you'll have to start paying for garden waste collection in Shropshire

On Wednesday, Shropshire Council's Cabinet agreed to introduce an annual charge of £56 for the collection of garden waste from the kerbside and to keep all five of the council’s household recycling centres open.

The moves are all part of measures to save £62.5 million from its budget in this financial year.

The authority said that the charge was in line with fees charged by neighbouring authorities, and covered the risk of any revenue shortfall if participation levels are lower than expected.

The new garden waste subscription service will be introduced on October 1 of this year. Garden waste collections will stop from the same date for anyone who hasn’t subscribed by that point.

Householders that subscribe to the new services will be sent a special sticker to attach to their garden bin, to show collection crews which bins to empty.

Food waste collections will also be suspended, as councils cannot charge for the service. Shropshire Council has said that it will introduce a new food waste collection service by 2026, when it becomes compulsory for all councils in England.

Subscribers to the garden waste service will no longer be able to put food waste in their garden bins.

Shropshire Council said that "there is no evidence to suggest there will be a rise in fly-tipping because of a subscription service being introduced" and other authorities with similar schemes had reported no increase.

The decision followed a consultation that ran throughout April and May which asked residents what they would be willing to pay for a garden waste subscription and for their thoughts about proposals to close two recycling centres.

Following the consultation, it was also decided that all five recycling centres would remain open but close one day a week to help make the required savings.

This is likely to be on the least popular day for visitors - a Wednesday or Thursday - but Shropshire Council said a final decision would be made in conjunction with their waste contractor, Veolia.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for waste management, said: “We had an incredible response to our consultation and have listened carefully to what people said. It was particularly clear that people want to see all five of our recycling centres remain open.

“An annual green waste subscription charge of £56 is in line with our neighbouring councils – and will help us to make the required savings. I’m also delighted that all five of our recycling centres will remain open six days a week, something I know will be welcomed by people across the county.

“As we’ve said before, Shropshire Council is facing unprecedented financial pressure. We must make £62m of savings in 2024/25 to keep a balanced budget and our plans include difficult decisions. We must look at other ways of creating income so that we can protect essential frontline services for those residents most in need.

“Though the collection of garden waste is not a service that the council must by law provide, it is one that we want to continue to provide. And as not all residents need or want the service we would instead provide this as an opt-in chargeable service to those who need or want it.

“Some 80 per cent of English councils already charge for garden waste collections, and many have been doing so for several years.

“The only change to the households that subscribe is that they will have to remove their food waste from their garden waste bin and the service will continue as normal.”

More information about the garden waste subscription service can be found on the Shropshire Council website at shropshire.gov.uk/gardenwaste.