Garden Waste Recycling Charges
What will the cost be?
From June 2014, garden waste recycling will become a chargeable service, at £27 for the period June 2014 to March 2015. From April 2015 to March 2016 the charge will be £36. This equates to about £2 per collection.
Why is the Council introducing a chargeable service?
The garden waste recycling service has been costing the Council over £285,000 per annum to run. To protect this service and ensure its continued provision, the Council has agreed to introduce a subscription (opt-in) service to offset part of the cost of providing it.
By introducing a charge for this discretionary service, it means that the Council will be better placed to maintain delivery of its essential and other valued services.
All local authorities, including Ryedale District Council (RDC) are facing significant financial pressures when it comes to finding ways of maintaining delivery of front line services. This is due to increased year on year funding cuts by central Government. Nation wide austerity measures affecting all public finances seem set to continue for the foreseeable future.
Is it legal for councils to charge?
Garden waste collections are discretionary and local authorities are permitted to charge for this service. Over recent years, an increasing number of local authorities have introduced charges, with around a third of councils in England now charging for this service. Within the York and North Yorkshire group of authorities, both Craven and Richmondshire District Council’s have agreed a charge.
Introducing a collection charge on a subscription (opt-in) basis means that only residents choosing to use this service actually pay for it. Arguably, some residents would say this is a fairer system, as it removes the subsidy from non-users.
Before wheeled bins for garden waste were introduced in 2003, RDC had always run a chargeable garden waste collection service (whereby residents could purchase garden waste sacks) though this material was never separately composted.
Changes to the garden waste in no way affects other waste services already provided for non-recyclable waste, or other recycling materials collected directly from the kerbside.
Will there be an increase in fly-tipping due to charging for this service?
There are a significant number of local authorities that already charge for garden waste but so far there is no evidence of increased incidences of fly-tipped material as a result.
How do I subscribe to the garden waste collection service?
We intend to contact all residents, regarding charges for garden waste, early in 2014. This will most likely be in the form of a letter mailed directly to each property.
More details about the scheme, as well as how and when to subscribe, will be included as a part of this mail-out.
What are my other options if I don’t want to subscribe?
Low cost compost containers can be purchased from Let's Talk Less Rubbish. If you already compost at home, but still generate more garden waste than you can manage, material can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre (skip site).
Has the Council consulted on charging for garden waste?
A public consultation exercise was carried out as part of setting the 2013-15 Budget.
The consultation showed that the majority were not in favour of being charged for this service. However, charging for garden waste enables us to continue to provide other valued community services and this was the least worst option.
As an example, the Council has recently agreed to continue maintaining two pools and a leisure centre in the District. As a non-statutory service this might otherwise have been threatened had the decision to charge not been taken.
Due to government cuts in funding over the last three years, we have already had to make savings of over £2 million. The continued and unprecedented scale of cuts in funding means that RDC has reached the point where increasingly difficult decisions now have to be taken. The Council has no choice and unfortunately decisions regarding budgets will now start to affect services that we deliver.
For more information on recycling, or to request a brown bin or bio bags, please email Streetscene or telephone 01653 600666.