Garden Waste Collection Service

• Pay before 29 February 2020 = £32 per bin
• ALL online payments (throughout) = £32 per bin
• Standard rate from 1 March 2020 = £35 per bin

**New application requests are currently suspended**

What happens when I subscribe?
We will arrange to collect your garden waste from 1 March 2020.  We will send you within 10 working days:

• your unique identification permit for your brown bin(s), and
• any additional bins (if you have paid for additional bins)  

The Controlled Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2012 set out the powers that Local Councils have to charge for the collection and disposal of certain wastes.  Paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 of these regulations sets out that a Council may charge for the collection (but not the disposal) of household garden waste. 

The Controlled Waste Regulations 1992, superseded by the new 2012 regulations, also set out that Councils may charge for garden waste collections.  In addition to this, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out in Section 45 paragraph 3 that Councils “may recover a reasonable charge” for collection of household waste where regulations such as the Controlled Waste (England & Wales) Regulations exist.   

No.  We do not have a legal duty to collect garden waste.  Councils do not have to provide householders with a free collection of their garden waste although they do have a legal duty to dispose of household waste free of charge.  The law gives Councils the discretion to make a reasonable charge for the collection of household garden waste in the same way that charges can be made for bulky waste collection. 

Additionally, not all properties in Flintshire need a garden waste collections service because some properties do not have a garden.  For this reason, it is also felt that introducing a charge is fair as the service will only be paid for by those households that choose to use it. 

We collect garden waste every two weeks between March to December, on the same day that we collect your recycling and food waste.   

You can take your garden waste to one of our Household Recycling Centres.  Alternatively, you could compost at home.  Garden waste should not be placed in your black bin for disposal, this is for non recyclable waste only.  We no longer accept side waste and if this is presented residents may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.  

No.  If you join part way through the year or only need a collection a few times a year, the charge will still remain the same. 

No.  We can only take the charge in one payment.  Payments can be made online (benefiting from the online rate), by visiting one of our Connect Centres or by calling 01352 701234.  

Yes, more than one brown bin per household can be purchased up to a maximum of 3 bins.  You will be charged the annual subscription per bin / per year.  The cost of additional bins is £30 per bin.  

Please affix the identification tag to the handle of the brown bin.  This allows the collection crew to make a quick check and ensure the stickers aren't damaged by the lifting equipment. 

The collection crews will not collect any garden waste bins without a sticker displayed.  

Yes. 

If you move house during the period of your subscription, you can transfer this subscription to your new address if this is in Flintshire.  Please contact us to tell us that you have moved house so that we can update our records.

Refunds cannot be provided if you move out of Flintshire or if the service is not offered to your new property.  Furthermore a refund is not available if you move to a new property and require fewer bins than you have subscribed for at your previous address. 

You have the right to cancel your subscription and obtain a full refund within 14 days of the day of purchase.  There will be no refunds after the 14 day cooling off period has expired.  

No.  Genuine missed collections are rare.  If your bin hasn't been emptied it may be because it contains the wrong items or it's too heavy.  We cannot empty the bin if it is too heavy or overfilled or contains bags; the lid of the bin must always be closed. Heavy bins may cause injury to our crew or damage to the vehicle.  All bins should be out for collection by 7am on your collection day. 

If your bin has been presented correctly and the missed collection is our fault, then we will always make an effort to return to collect the bin within 24 hours of notification; however, this may not always be possible for operational reasons, such as breakdowns or adverse weather, and we then return as soon as is practically possible.  We reserve the right to cancel collections due to circumstances beyond our control, e.g. severe weather or road traffic accidents.  

Missed collections can be reported by completing our My Account. 

No.

Please check with your neighbours to make sure they have not taken the brown bin by mistake.  If not, then report it to us as soon as possible so we can investigate.

We encourage you to mark your brown bin with your house number or address to make your bin clearly identifiable.  It is the responsibility of the householder to ensure their brown bin/s are safely stored.  In the event of a missing bin, there will be a charge of £30 for a replacement (cost of the bin). 

It is your responsibility to take care of the tag on the bin and ensure your address remains clearly visible.  However if it is damaged/missing, please contact us and an officer will check your details on our system and, if necessary, make a site visit. 

If the garden waste materials are placed into your brown wheeled bin, then you would still need to subscribe to the kerbside collection service.  Alternatively, you can ask your gardener or the person who carries out the work for you to take the garden waste away and dispose of it responsibly – they may charge you to do so.  If you pay your gardener, they cannot take the waste to one of our household recycling centres as the waste will be classed as trade waste when they remove it from your property.

Remember, householders are required by law to check that anyone removing waste from their property is authorised to do so under “Duty of Care”.  Householders who do not take reasonable measures to check that operators are legitimate waste carriers could be liable to a fine.