Charge for brown bin collections

From the 3rd July, 2017 The Highland Council is to introduce a charge for the collection of garden waste in brown bins. This charge will be £30 per annum per bin. 

It is an Opt in Service which will hopefully generate an income of £660,000. The alternative to introducing the charge was to stop the garden waste collection service altogether. The garden waste collection service is not a statutory function which the Council has to provide and is currently provided to 67,000 households out of a total of 110,000 in Highland. 

Householders who currently receive the garden waste collection service will receive a letter over the next two weeks providing information about the new scheme including payment methods and what to do if they no longer wish to use the service.

Residents who wish to opt into the chargeable service will receive a unique sticker for their brown bin which can be identified by the collection crew.

The service is optional and householders can still take their garden waste along to their local Recycling Centre free of charge. To find your local Recycling Centre that can accept green waste, please visit www.highland.gov.uk/recycle

For households who no longer wish to have a brown bin service, the Council will remove brown bins in December 2017. Empty bins will also be accepted at our Recycling Centres. 

Andy Summers, Head of Environmental and Amenity Services said: “We would encourage householders to continue to recycle as much as possible and help us to reduce waste going to landfill. You might want to consider getting a composting bin for garden waste. Composting at home is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms your kitchen and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden.”

For more information please visit www.highland.gov.uk/gardenwaste ; email recycle@highland.gov.uk or call 01349 886603.