Garden waste
Contents
Garden waste
Residents can subscribe to our garden waste service with collections every two weeks. The service is charged but optional - you don't need to sign up. There is a two week break over Christmas.
Subscribe
You need to pay an annual subscription of £45.60 by direct debit, or with a debit or credit card.
Your subscription will run for 12 months. After 10 working days, we'll start collections on the next collection date.
If you need to buy extra subscriptions later - they will run out at the same time as your first subscription. So we recommend ordering any extra subscriptions at the same time as initially subscribing or renewing.
You can order 10 sacks at £17.50 for irregular collections. Each sack can hold approximately 80 litres of waste.
You'll need to leave a minimum of 3 sacks out at a time and let us know 3 working days before your next garden waste collection day.
You can also order a discounted home composter through Get Composting if you don't want to sign up.
Guidance
We'll provide a standard-sized 240 litre bin. You can have a maximum of 4 bins per household - but these need to be ordered at the same time. You will be charged a full subscription for each bin.
Bin colours
We use different coloured bins across North Northamptonshire for garden waste. New or replacement bins we provide will be black with a brown lid as we unify our bin colours:
- Corby area: Green bins
- East Northamptonshire area: Black with a brown lid
- Kettering area: Grey or green bins
- Wellingborough area: Brown bins
Sharing a bin
You can share a bin with a neighbour - you can decide how to split its use and pay for it but this agreement will not be our responsibility.
Moving home
If you move house and stay in North Northamptonshire, you should leave the old bin and order another at your new address by contacting us.
Extra waste
We will only collect garden waste that fits in the garden waste bin with the lid closed, unless it is contained within provided council-supplied compostable sacks.
Extra waste left by the side of your bin will not be collected.
The waste is turned regularly to improve oxygen content, distribute heat to regulate the temperature and to distribute moisture.
The whole process takes in the region of sixteen weeks to produce a product which can then be screened to remove any contaminants (such as plastic) before use. It can then be used as a soil conditioner.
There is a cost to us to dispose of this waste and we do not make a profit from it.
You can cancel a direct debit subscription by contacting your bank and cancelling the direct debit or by contacting our team. Your collections will still continue until the end date of your current subscription.
If you want to increase or reduce the number of subscriptions you have while on a direct debit, you will need to contact us directly.
Housing providers
If you're a landlord and need to order garden waste bins for properties (e.g. bins for multiple properties) please contact our team and we may be able to set up an invoiced service for you.
Commercial
Our team can provide quotes for an invoiced service for commercial garden waste collections.
Your sticker can be placed:
- on the bin lid facing towards the front of the bin
or - placed on the back of the bin below the handles (please present the bin with the sticker clearly visible so our crews can spot it)
If we find garden waste in a general refuse or recycling bin, it will be tagged to inform you why we can't empty it. If it happens repeatedly, we'll write to you and explain what the issue is as part of our policy to raise awareness amongst residents.
We may issue a fixed penalty notice if you persistently ignore the rules around bin waste and it causes a nuisance, or, it is likely to have a negative impact on our services. We would do this in line with our enforcement and waste policies and is a last resort.
Last updated 22 October 2024