Gardeners' delight as green waste collection restarts

Central Bedfordshire Council will recommence its fortnightly kerbside collections of garden waste from Monday 27 February to coincide with its usual dry recycling bin collections.
Photo Derek MartinPhoto Derek Martin
Photo Derek Martin

The council took the decision to pause the garden waste kerbside collection service during the winter weeks whilst demand for the service was low in order to help residents’ council tax go further. During the winter season up to 80% less garden waste is collected compared with spring and summer yet collection vehicles are still required to visit all properties with the associated costs to taxpayers. By pausing the service over these weeks the council has saved around £60,000 of tax-payers’ money.

Cllr Budge Wells, Deputy Executive Member for Community Services, said: “We know that the kerbside collection of garden waste is important to our residents. We appreciate the co-operation of residents during this short break. We will now resume fortnightly collections which are available free of charge to all Central Bedfordshire residents throughout the rest of the year.”

Residents who have enough space in their gardens are also encouraged to compost at home. The council encourages home composting by offering all residents a discount on compost bins and accessories. For those planning on undertaking a garden makeover, larger quantities of garden waste can also be recycled at the council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres, including three which have been recently enlarged and rebuilt.

For more information about tidy tips and kerbside garden waste collections, please visit www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/garden-waste