Green waste collection charge – your questions answered

As part of the budget options for 2022/23, Liverpool City Council is set to introduce a garden waste collection charge of £40 per year.

Here we answer some questions that you might have…

Why are you introducing a charge?

Liverpool City Council has to find £24.5 million of savings next year, in addition to £465 million since 2010.

Rather than cutting frontline services, we are having to introduce additional charges for some things, to offset the impact.

It is also fairer, because up to now, households without gardens have been subsidising the cost of providing a green waste collection to those who have one.

Hundreds of other councils across the country have already introduced a similar fee, including councils in the local region.

It works out at around £2.11 a collection, and the money that is generated – an estimated £1.7 million a year – will help us protect and maintain valued frontline services such as libraries, parks and leisure centres.

When will the charge be introduced?

We are still working through the detail of timings for implementation, but we expect it to be sometime in the late spring, or early summer.

When the new scheme is introduced, only green bins registered with the council under the new chargeable service will be collected.

How will you know which bins are part of the scheme?

Residents will get a sticker which they can put on their bins, so that they are easily identifiable.

In addition, all properties that have signed up to the scheme will be listed on a separate database.

I don’t want to take part – what do I do with my green bin?

Should a resident not wish to not take part in the scheme, then the green bins will be removed at some point in the future, or alternatively they can be kept, in case the resident wants to opt in at a later stage.

How else can I dispose of my garden waste if I don’t take part?

All residents have a ‘Duty of Care’ to dispose of their household waste correctly by using the right bins or by using the right disposal points available for you to take your household waste to.  Please note, garden waste is not permitted in the purple or blue bins.  

Green waste can be taken to the household waste recycling centres within the city, in Old Swan or at Otterspool: https://www.merseysidewda.gov.uk/find-a-local-recycling-centre/

Alternatively, home composting is an option – details are available on our website: https://liverpool.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/compost-bins/

I am already struggling financially – what if I can’t pay?

We are looking at ways in which we can ease the burden.

This includes establishing a hardship fund for the most vulnerable.

Details on a payment system will be announced in due course.