Here's how much Derbyshire householders pay to get rid of their garden waste

Getting rid of garden waste in Derbyshire can cost as much as £40 a year to as little as nothing.

Figures collated by the Local Democracy Reporting Service show there is a big disparity in how much householders have to pay for garden bins.

Recycling garden waste – typically grass cuttings, small branches and leaves – is the responsibility of district and borough councils, along with Derby City Council.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, Derbyshire County Council does own some of the larger recycling facilities available to residents and devises advice on waste collection management which it seeks to pass on to the districts and boroughs.

In short, your bins are collected by the district, borough or city council.

It is down to them whether they charge or do not charge for garden waste collections.

Six of the nine Derbyshire authorities which collect garden waste do so free of charge – for the time being.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Among them, a number of councils have recently made a switch one way or the other.

Derbyshire Dales District Council made the decision in November to forge ahead with plans to bring in a charge for garden waste collections.

It said that due to budget pressures, it could no longer offer the service for free, stating that charges could bring in in excess of £400,000 a year.

This could see an annual fee of £40 brought in – to match the national average – although most of the respondents to a council consultation said that if they had to pay, they would pay £25, the lowest option offered in the survey.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The majority of people who answered the survey said that they would not be willing to pay for garden waste collections.

Those in the Derbyshire Dales who want a second garden waste bin (which is green) must pay a one-off fee of £25.75.

Meanwhile, Derby City Council decided in November to row back on charges for the service, reverting to free collections all year round – extended its current 32-week period.

These will return from April.

The city council says that this should help it reach a government target of 50 per cent recycling by 2020.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

An additional brown bin for garden waste is a one-off cost of £40.

Erewash Borough Council also offers a free service.

However, the scheme does not run for around a month over the winter period.

For example, this year, the last week of collections in north of the borough – which includes Ilkeston, Breadsall, Cotmanhay, Dale Abbey, Kirk Hallam, Little Eaton, Morley, Ockbrook, Stanley, Stanley Common, Stanton by Dale and West Hallam – is December 3.

Meanwhile, the last week of collections in the south of the borough – which includes Long Eaton, Borrowash, Breaston, Draycott, Risley, Sandiacre and Sawley – is December 10.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

These collections typically restart at the end of January or early February.

The borough council is currently running a pilot in which residents who no longer need their garden waste bin can have it fitted with a blue lid (as opposed to a brown one) to permanently designate it as a general recycling bin (for cardboard and plastic etc).

Garden waste collections in the Amber Valley Borough Council area are charged.

They run from February 25 until November 29 this year, with a drop in service over the winter and Christmas period.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Collections cost £40 per year, with an additional cost of £20 in the first year for the bin itself.

Residents can also buy an extra garden waste bin for another £20, which also costs another £20 per year to be collected.

In the High Peak Borough Council area, the service is free and runs all year.

However, if you want to recycle more garden waste, it costs £54.50 for an extra bin and collections until the following April.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After this, there is a charge of £27 a year for collecting the extra garden waste bin – which is black with green lid.

In South Derbyshire, the district council collects garden waste free of charge all year – in the brown bin which also includes food waste.

These collections do not include turf and soil.

Additional bins can be obtained, but only if residents are found eligible after filling out an online form.

In North East Derbyshire, the district council also offers a free-of-charge collection service for its green bins.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, if residents have “excessive amounts” of garden waste, this falls into bulky collections, for which there is a charge.

For this, charges are as follows: One item, £15, two to five, £20 and six to nine, £25.

Charges are halved for “households on low income and householders who due to reasons of disability do not have the capability and mobility to remove their own bulk waste”.

Its collection service also stops over the extended winter period.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For example, its collections stopped on December 3, 2018 and do not start again until March 4 this year.

Chesterfield Borough Council also offers a free service, all year round, in its green wheelie bin.

It does not provide extra green bins.

Bolsover District Council runs a free service – also in its green bin.

This service is also suspended over winter.

For example, its collections stopped on December 4, 2018 and do not start again until March 5 this year.

Eddie Bisknell , Local Democracy Reporting Service