Garden waste service

General terms

You agree to pay Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to collect the garden waste in your garden waste bin(s) for the period of your subscription. In 2025 the cost is £41.99 for each bin.

For 2025, it provides fortnightly collections between February and the last week of December.
  

Check to see your garden waste subscription service collection dates

We reserve the right to suspend collections when circumstances beyond its control mean they can't take place, including serious operational issues, ice, snow and where cold weather freezes waste inside bins.  We will do our best to return to make good collections missed for these reasons, but do not guarantee to be able to.  No refunds will be available if we are unable to return, or collect on a different day.  Our website and Facebook page will contain information where collections are not made.

There are no reductions for subscribing to the service part way through the year.

If you move house within the borough, you may move your subscription to another property. Contact us through our website to arrange this. However, if you move out of the borough, decide that you no longer need one or more of the garden waste bins, or need fewer garden waste bins at the next property, no refunds will be made. You cannot transfer the subscription to a new occupier of a property that you move out of, or to someone else at another property.

Towards the end of your current subscription period, we will contact you to sign up for the next subscription period. If you do not sign up and make payment by the end of your current subscription period, you will not receive any further collections until a payment has been made.

We reserve the right to leave a bin unemptied if it judges the bin to have been unsafe to empty, for example, due to damage or contents.

The only container we will empty garden waste from is a 240 litre wheelie bin with a brown lid, issued by us. The bin provided will be clean, but not necessarily new. There is a delivery cost for each bin of £31.50 in addition to the subscription charge.

If you and a neighbour(s) share a garden waste bin we will only correspond with the person in whose name the subscription is held.

We reserve the right to vary terms and conditions at any time.

Collections

In-cab software will tell the crew that your bin has a valid subscription. We will put a bright sticker onto the bin to help crews to spot bins, but collections may start before that sticker is applied.

Your garden waste bin(s) should be presented, with the lid closed, where your property meets the pavement by 6:00 a.m. on the day of collection and returned back to your property as soon as possible after emptying. If you use a collection point because your property is accessed over a private lane or access, you must present the bin at the collection point previously agreed for your rubbish bin, which will usually be at the nearest adopted highway. Please keep your garden waste bin within your property boundary between collections.

If you have an assisted collection for your other collection services, one may also be provided for your garden waste. However, we do not guarantee this as the service only collects from wheelie bins and a property must be judged by us to be suitable for wheeled bins (for example, not accessed up steps or over deep gravel).

Missed collections

If we are unable to empty your bin because it wasn't presented, it contained the wrong material, was too heavy or the waste was compacted, we will not carry out a return collection and your bin will not be emptied until the next scheduled date. There will be no refunds if we are not able to collect the bins for these reasons. If your bin contained the wrong items, then you must remove them in order for future collections to take place.

If your bin was out on time, and contained only the right material, but was not emptied by our team, please contact us by the end of the next working day. This will then be recorded as a missed collection and a crew should return within two working days. Missed bins have to be reported by the end of the next working day because it allows the truck we use for missed collections to work in a confined zone. This improves our efficiency and helps keep the cost of the service down.

If the crew report that a garden waste bin has the wrong items in it, we will not return before the next scheduled collection. If your bin contained the wrong items, then you must remove them in order for future collections to take place.

If the crew report that the bin was not out when they arrived we will not be able to return until the next scheduled collection day. Please ensure your bin is presented at the edge of your property by 6:00 a.m.  We use on-board cameras to verify whether reportedly-missed bins were presented.

We are not able to take any extra/side garden waste, or to empty bins that are overloaded or too heavy. If the crew report a bin as heavy/overloaded/having a raised lid we will not return until the next scheduled collection. Please ensure the extra waste is removed from the bin so it can be emptied the next time. If you regularly have extra garden waste, why not sign up for a second bin?

Accepted material and contamination

Garden waste bins should only be used for grass cuttings, hedge clippings, weeds, thin branches (2cm diameter or less), plants, prunings and leaves, and these should be placed loose in the bin. You must not use any bags/sacks/boxes or other containers.

Soil, turf, rocks, stones, large branches (over 2 cm in diameter), sawdust, pet waste, food, or other household waste or recyclables, should not be placed in the garden waste bins. If these items are found to be in the garden waste bins the crews will not empty them.

If the customer contravenes the terms and conditions, then the service may be cancelled by us. In such circumstances there will be no refunds for all or part fees for the remainder of the service period and the bin will be removed.

Data protection

When you sign up to the garden waste service you will be asked to provide your name, address, email address and telephone number. Your data will be stored securely in line with the Data Protection Act. We will use your data to notify you about renewing your garden waste subscription at the end of each year. We may also use your contact details to let you know about service issues, such as snowy weather delays, or when we need to provide council related service updates. If you wish to remove your contact details from our database please contact us.

Cancellation

You have fourteen days from the date you made your payment in which to cancel the service.

Requests to cancel the service must be made in writing and sent to: Operational Services, Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 1BL.