Council budgets and spending Garden waste subscription consultation - FAQs
General
What is being proposed?
We’re planning to introduce an annual subscription fee for the collection of garden waste from properties in the Shropshire.
If you choose to pay an annual subscription fee, we'll continue to collect your garden bin every two weeks as usual.
You would only pay for the service if you chose to subscribe.
More than 80% of English councils already charge for this service and many have been doing so for several years.
Why are we proposing this?
Like councils all over the country we're facing unprecedented financial pressure, mainly due to growing demand for social care and rising costs. Social care now accounts for almost £4 in every £5 of our budget.
We must make £62m of savings in 2024/25 to keep a balanced budget, and our plans include difficult decisions, and some that we've never wanted to make.
We must look at other ways of creating income so that we can protect essential frontline services for those residents most in need.
The collection of garden waste isn't a service that we must by law provide. If we do provide the service we can charge a fee, and the income from this can then be used to offset other budget pressures and support the delivery of other key services.
We believe that most residents who use the garden waste collection service would prefer for it to continue, but we can no longer continue to provide this free of charge. We’re therefore proposing to introduce a charge for those residents who use it.
How much would it cost?
We've looked at what other similar councils to Shropshire charge, and on average this is £55 per year. We're proposing an annual subscription charge of £52, or £1 a week.
In the consultation, we’re also asking if you'd be willing to pay more than this each year, to help ensure that all of our five household recycling centres remain open.
Why can’t the charge be added to the council tax?
We must provide certain statutory services, and council tax helps to provide these services, but garden waste is a discretionary service, and we can no longer afford to provide the service free of charge.
Since not all residents need or want the service, a decision was taken to continue to offer garden waste collections, but as an opt-in chargeable service. This means that the collection of garden waste won't contribute to future council tax increases.
What if I already pay £78 for a second garden waste bin?
The proposal (to be agreed) is that each household can have up to a maximum of three of bins, with a full subscription fee of £51 per bin.
How would the service work?
By paying an annual subscription fee, you'd continue to have your garden bin collected every two weeks on your usual collection day.
Once you’ve subscribed, you'd receive a subscription sticker to attach to your garden bin. Only garden bins with a valid sticker would be emptied.
Your garden waste would continue to be turned into compost for use in agriculture and horticulture.
When would the new service begin?
Following this consultation, a report will be presented to the council’s cabinet and then to the full council for a final decision. Before any changes are made there would then be a communications campaign to advise and inform residents.
When does the consultation open and close?
The consultation will open on 8 April 2024 and close on 20 May 2024.
What happens at the end of the consultation?
The information you have provided will be carefully considered and used by Shropshire Council to influence the final decisions concerning budget reductions and future service provision. The results of the consultation will be reported to Cabinet on 3 July 2024.
If I choose not to subscribe
Would I have to pay?
No, this would be an opt-in service. If you didn't subscribe and make a payment your garden waste bin wouldn't be collected.
How could I dispose of my garden waste?
We understand that households may not wish to pay a charge and consider alternatives such as home composting. We provide a subsidised composting bin service which could be promoted further if the proposal is implemented.
Alternatively you can take your garden waste to your nearest recycling centre.
What would happen to my green bin?
We're not planning to remove bins during the first 12 months of operation (subject to council agreement). This is because people may change their minds and want to subscribe at a later date. Removing bins and delivering them would be a waste of resources. If a resident insisted that they didn’t want their bin anymore they could take it to their nearest recycling centre, where it can be reused. If they were unable to take the bin to a recycling centre, they would have to wait for the planned removal programme in 2025-26.
Could I put garden waste in my general waste bin?
No, up to 100% of the waste in your general waste bin is taken to the Battlefield energy-recovery-facility, which can't accept garden waste. Your general waste bin wouldn't be emptied if it contained garden waste.
Food waste
Why are you stopping collection of food waste in my garden waste bin?
We can't charge for food waste.
If we introduce a chargeable garden waste service, food waste collections will need to be suspended whilst we develop and introduce a new weekly service from April 2026. All councils in England must introduce weekly food waste collections to all properties from this date.
Our waste collection contractor Veolia presently collects garden waste from 138,400 properties of the 149,000 in Shropshire, and of these 97,000 also have food waste collections - that's 65% of properties in Shropshire.
What would I do with my food waste?
We'd encourage all residents to reduce the amount of food waste that they produce. This can help you reduce food bills, save energy and your carbon emissions, as well as helping the council’s financial challenge by reducing our collection costs. Food waste can also be composted at home.