Freeze On Cost Of 2023/24 Garden Waste Bin Permits

13th June 2023

Highland Council Garden Waste Permits are now available to purchase for the 2023/24 permit season. To help all customers to continue recycling their garden waste, the cost of a garden waste permit for the next season (2023/2024) has not increased and will remain at the same price as last year - £47.75 per permit.

Garden waste permits are now available to purchase online www.highland.gov.uk/gardenwaste and through the Service Point network for the 2023/24 permit season.

All existing permit holders will receive a reminder to renew their permit over the next few weeks. The optional fortnightly household collection service is also open to new customers living within the garden waste collection service catchment areas.

Householders can visit the Council's website www.highland.gov.uk/gardenwaste to check if they live in a garden waste collection service area.

There are between 19 and 20 collections per season depending on which day of the week collections fall, which equates to approximately £2.40 per collection for each garden waste bin. With no increase in price this year, the Council hopes this will encourage residents who have been considering purchasing a permit to go ahead and sign up for the service.

The new permit season starts on Friday 1 September 2023 and runs to 31 August 2024, with a winter break in the months of December, January and February. Demand for permits will be high in the weeks immediately prior to the 2023/24 service commencing in September; therefore, householders are encouraged to sign-up by 1 August to ensure they receive permits in time for the first collections.

Customers can continue to order garden waste permits after 1 August; however, the Council cannot guarantee that permits ordered following this date will arrive in time for the first collections of the 2023/24 permit year.

Councillor Graham Mackenzie, Chair of the Communities and Place Committee said: "This year the Council has agreed to freeze the price of the garden waste permit at £47.75. Although some costs have increased for the Council, Members have agreed to not pass this increase onto residents. We hope this decision will encourage current customers to maintain their great contribution to recycling garden waste and encourage others to register with the service."

Councillor Mackenzie, continued, “Recycling garden waste such as grass, leaves, branches, hedge clippings and flowers is an important part of our recycling in Highland with 12,200 tonnes of this material collected from the kerbside and Household Waste Recycling Centres last year. People often think recycling is only about their blue bin, but garden waste is as important and contributes to our overall recycling figures.”

Cllr Mackenzie added “Garden waste could be composted at home, taken to Household Waste Recycling Centres or recycled through the garden waste collection service rather than being thrown away in general waste bins and is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint to create a healthier, more sustainable environment, helping to combat climate change.”

Garden waste permits can be purchased on-line at www.highland.gov.uk/gardenwaste; or by visiting local Service Points.

The service is optional, and householders are also able to take their garden waste along to their local Household Waste Recycling Centre free of charge.

For more information, please visit www.highland.gov.uk/gardenwaste or e-mail recycle@highland.gov.uk