Green fingered residents across Wokingham Borough will soon be able apply for a garden waste collection for 2021-22. Anyone signed up for a collection for 2020-21 will get an email or letter asking them to sign up for use of a brown wheelie bin for the new financial year.
More than 23,000 residents are already signed up for the service, which takes away garden clippings, grass cuttings, leaves and weeds fortnightly from the kerbside in a 240-litre brown wheeled bin. Making use of the service means residents are able to have 6,240 tonnes of green material collected from the kerbside each year – more than one large skip.
Residents will be directed to sign up via our website from mid-March, with the cost covering the period from 1 May 2021 until 30 April 2022. The renewal period will start later this year due to an additional month given to all subscribers for 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and disruption to garden waste collection services.
The price of a collection has increased slightly by £5 to £65 for the year. The price of individual brown garden waste sacks, which have a 75-litre capacity, has also increased, from £1 to £1.10. This is the first price increase since the service launched in 2012 and is to cover increased running costs. A graded price structure has also been introduced so residents will pay £50 if they join after 1 July or £35 if they join after 1 October.
“Our garden waste service continues to be popular across the borough with more than 23,000 residents now using it,” said Cllr Parry Batth, executive member for environment and leisure. “We have introduced a small price increase for the first time since the service started nine years ago and this is only to cover additional costs of running it.
“Garden waste is a perfect example of closed loop recycling, where residents can turn what used to be in their gardens into compost, which can then be used to help grow new plants.”
Once collected all the materials are turned into re3regrow compost, which is sold at the borough’s recycling centres. It’s transformed at a composting facility in Oxfordshire, before being put into 40-litre bags and sold for £3.50 each, which covers the cost of producing it.
If residents do sign up, they will get a teal sticker delivered to place onto their bin to show they have paid. This should come within 10 working days of the order being completed. If they are getting a brown bin for the first time, it will come with the teal sticker attached.
