Garden waste recycling service

Every year, over 40,000 tonnes of rubbish are collected from houses in the borough - up to a third of this is waste from gardens.

To prevent this garden waste going in to landfill the council operates a brown wheeled bin collection service. By collecting the garden waste separately, it can be diverted from landfill. The garden waste we collect is taken to a local farm for composting.

Please remember that you must not put cardboard in the brown wheeled bin. Please use the separate kerbside service for cardboard.

Please note: the collection crews have been instructed to inspect the brown-wheeled bins before collecting and not to empty any bins containing unacceptable materials. The brown bins must not be used for anything other than garden waste. We will collect grass cuttings, flowers, plants, hedge clippings, leaves and bark, twigs, small branches and weeds. Due to restrictions at the composting site we cannot collect any food waste, fruit or vegetable peelings, on this service.

If you have not previously registered to use this service but would now like to do so, please contact us for further details. If you do not know your collection day please contact the council by telephone or email. Alternatively, you can view and print your recycling and refuse calendar online.

Unsuitable items are:

• Soil or old compost
• Turf
• Japanese Knotweed
• Slabs, stones or garden rubble
• Treated wood - fence posts/panels etc
• Old or broken garden tools
• Garden chemicals
• Plant pots
• Animal bedding or waste
• Food waste - including fruit and vegetable peelings
• Cardboard
• General waste

Your bin will not be emptied if it contains these types of items. Please contact us for advice on ways to dispose of these unwanted items.

Remember: if in doubt, leave it out.

More information

Please browse through the frequently asked questions for more information on how the service works. If anything is unclear or hasn't been answered then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Last updated: 25/01/2012 10:25