Waste not, because it cost a lot: Householders face postcode lottery over fees for garden waste collections

BY ALICE FULLER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

Householders face a postcode lottery over fees for council garden waste collections.

Charges vary between boroughs with Lewisham residents paying more than any other.

In contrast, their neighbours in Greenwich get the service free of charge, according to BBC Shared Data Unit information.

Lewisham residents pay £80 per year for the council to take leaves, weeds, grass cuttings and other garden waste weekly.

The charge is the most expensive in London and the fourth highest in the country, well above the £31 national average.

But neighbouring Greenwich is one of 10 boroughs, including Wandsworth, not to charge for the service.

Lewisham resident Rosie Whiting, 25, said: “I choose not to have the collection service because it’s so expensive.

“But I also don’t have a car so I can’t take garden waste to the dump, so we have a big rotting pile of waste in the garden.”

A spokeswoman for Lewisham council said: “Green waste collection remains a subsided service for Lewisham residents and at £1.53 per week for collection remains excellent value for money.

Additionally, by charging for the collection it allows us to deliver a better service for residents with the bins collected weekly, rather than fortnightly or even monthly in other boroughs.”

Amateur gardeners Alex Redfern and Joe Shannon from the Lewisham blog the Gardening Guys said they are happy to pay towards the service but have called for a reduction in price.

“The price is now prohibitive for those people who only have a small amount of green waste to dispose of,” they added.

Greenwich Councillor David Gardner said: “We currently collect garden and food waste together every week, free of charge, to make it as easy and affordable as possible for people to recycle as much as they can.

“We are revising our waste strategy and looking at options to help us reduce the amount of waste in the borough and enable residents to reuse and recycle even more.

“However, there is no plan to introduce a charge for garden waste collections.”

Evidence of the differing charges comes amid calls for the service to be provided free nationwide.

Anthony O’Sullivan, managing director of the online group Gardeners Club, said: “UK gardeners are increasingly being punished with a quiet green-garden tax which seems to go against every other positive environmental initiative that the UK is trying to promote.

“UK councils are increasingly charging residents to dispose of green garden waste, which for many will result in a lack of enthusiasm to keep their gardens looking good, working as they should and potentially increasing the demand for alternative ‘care free’ gardens based around decking, patios, concrete and worse still plastic artificial grass!

“So, while the rest of the world is encouraging us all to reduce our carbon footprints and generally live a better environmental way of life, why are UK councils doing the opposite?”

Councils are obliged to collect household waste and recycling, but garden waste is not yet a statutory service, with town halls free to decide how much to charge.

Merton residents pay £75 annually for a fortnightly collection, well above the London average charge of £42.

Gardeners in Southwark pay £30 annually while Lambeth charges £63 for a weekly service.

The Government says it believes providing a regular kerbside collection service is the best way to increase recycling of garden waste.

It has asked for opinions on the possibility of all councils in England providing the service free of charge from 2023.

Consultation by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) this year estimated it would cost £229million over seven years to offer the service free of charge.

Councillor and environment spokesman for the Local Government Association David Renard said: “Ultimately garden waste collection has to be paid for by someone.

“It’s only fair that those households which have gardens and generate the waste pay for the service.”