After we reported last week that people who refuse – or can’t afford – to pay for their green waste to be taken away and don’t want to home-compost face a trip to the tip every time they cut the lawn, the council has said that people can share the cost of bins.
Cheshire East Council has unveiled the subscription details for its new garden waste recycling scheme, under which it charges for the currently-free (other than council tax) green bins to be emptied. Subscriptions will open next month for residents who want to, or can afford, to pay to have their garden bin collected, following the decision to impose charges.
People will need to opt-in to the council’s garden waste recycling scheme to continue using their garden bin to recycle their green waste and will pay an annual subscription fee of £56 – about £1.07 a week – for their bin to be emptied.
As we reported last week, garden waste cannot be placed in the black household waste bin or silver recycling bin under the new scheme. Black or silver bins found to contain garden waste will not be emptied. This means either hiding cuttings in a black bin liner in the general bin or a trip to the tip, which in the Congleton area will mean a journey to Macclesfield.
But the council has said people can share bins, if one bin is enough for several people with smaller gardens.
“If one bin can meet the needs of you and your neighbour, you are able to share a garden bin.”
The charge applies per bin, so one person will need to be the named subscriber and pay the fee, and their neighbours can then chip in.
The council cannot legally charge people to take away their food waste but it is hoping that people will choose to continue to recycle their food waste by putting it in their garden bin.
Council leader Sam Corcoran, speaking as a private individual, has said he will be doing that.
People can put food waste into their black bins, although the Government has plans to fund a separate food waste collection service.
The council is also keen for people to try home composting, said to be “an excellent and environmentally-friendly” way of transforming garden waste and fruit and vegetable peelings into a nutrient-rich food for gardens.
Subscriptions will go live from the week starting Monday, 2nd October and the quickest and easiest way to sign up is online at cheshireeast.gov.uk/gardenbin.
Subscribers will have their garden bins emptied as per their usual schedule and will be sent a sticker to attach to their bin, which will contain their address and subscription reference number.
The sticker is designed to fray and tear if it is taken off the bin, so that it cannot be reused by anyone else.
Once subscribed, residents will receive collections from January through to December. As it is a seasonal service, there are no collections between mid-December and mid-January.
Until January, residents should continue to dispose of their waste in the normal way.
Collections will continue as normal until then.
