How do garden waste collection charges in Flintshire compare with the rest of Wales

Charges for garden waste collections in Flintshire are set to be increased by up to £5 next year as the local authority looks to boost its income.

Residents in Flintshire currently have to pay an annual fee of £30 to have their brown bins collected after the council stopped offering the service for free in April 2018.

Despite opposition, more than 40 per cent of householders in the county signed up in the first 12 months, generating almost £1m for the cash-strapped authority’s coffers.

Charges for garden waste collection in Flintshire will rise between £2 and £5 next season, depending on the chosen payment method and the date the payment is received by the council.

Residents will pay an increased annual fee next year of £35 – this will reduce to £32 if they opt to sign up online because of the lower registration costs.

Those who join the scheme later in the season or wish to pay over the phone or face-to-face would be charged the full price of £35.

The collection of garden waste is not currently a statutory service and charging for collections is at the discretion of local authorities.

Critics of the charges say gardeners are “increasingly being punished” and have described them as a “quiet green-garden tax which seems to go against every other positive environmental initiative that the UK is trying to promote”.

The UK Government says it believes that 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.

It’s not known if the Welsh Government will follow suit.

Research by the BBC shared data unit has found that some local authorities across the UK are charging up to £100 a year.

Of the 368 local authorities in the UK which offer regular kerbside collections of domestic garden waste, 217 (59%) charge annually.

The annual charge for the collection service in the UK ranges from £18 to £96 with the average charge being around the £31 mark.

In Wales, collection charges range from £18 to £50 with the average annual charge being £34.

Two local authorities, Ceredigion and Conwy don’t offer a kerbside garden waste service, of the 20 councils in Wales which do, 60 percent (12) do not levy an annual charge for garden waste collections. 

Pembrokeshire is the most expensive county, it charges £50, for that, residents receive a fortnightly collection from March to November.

Monmouthshire is the cheapest at £18, residents there receive a weekly collection from March to November. 

In 2019 – Flintshire was one of the least expensive in Wales at £30 around 12 per cent lower than the Welsh average.

The capacity of bins varies from county to county – and in some cases, residents are given reusable sacks to fill with garden waste.

According to the data, most counties which supply garden waste wheelie bins give residents ones with a 240 litre capacity, two councils use the much smaller 140 litre bins, they are Flintshire and Denbighshire.

Residents in Flintshire who require greater capacity than the standard 140 litre bin can request a second bin but that will double your annual charge.  

Anthony O’Sullivan, managing director of 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 worst still… plastic artificial grass! 

So whilst 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?”