Simpler recycling has been made even easier – with our new Garden Waste Collection Service free for the first year!
In September 2023 Hertsmere Borough Council announced ambitious new plans to make a number of changes to our waste and recycling service to increase recycling rates, reduce avoidable waste and further meet our environmental commitments.
The changes include introducing a weekly food waste collection from April 2025, bringing in a new and fairer chargeable opt-in Garden Waste Collection Service from April 2024, just like other well-performing councils, and enforcing our existing single black bin policy.
Cllr Paul Richards, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Sustainability and Net Zero and Public Health, said: “In September 2023 we announced ambitious new plans to make a number of changes to our waste and recycling service to increase recycling rates, reduce avoidable waste and further meet our environmental commitments. Those commitments have not changed, but our foresight in advancing these plans, in early anticipation of new government requirements, has enabled us to access funds that we will use to eliminate the first year of costs to local residents.
"As we correctly anticipated, the government has now made it mandatory for local councils to introduce most of the measures we proposed. This means Hertsmere is in a prime position to access indicative Transitional Relief Funding. This one-off indicative funding frees up the council’s own finances to make our new Garden Waste Collection Service free for residents for the first year. This means nobody will need to pay anything before April 2025 when our new weekly food waste collections will commence.
“Residents will still need to sign up to the Garden Waste Collection Service to have their green bin collected from April 2024. Charges to garden waste collections will then start in April 2025 and coincide with our new weekly food waste collection. Signing up this year will not automatically commit residents to an ongoing subscription. We will let you know in good time of any charges prior to the new subscription year starting.”
Our ambitious new plans will provide residents with a cleaner and greener recycling service, which will divert over 3,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year.
Food waste is the most common contaminant of the council’s dry recycling service and currently accounts for about 27% of waste found in the black bin.
Councillor Richards, added: “I am delighted we are able to pass funding on to our residents and provide a free Garden Waste Collection Service to our residents for the first year. Charges won’t apply until the introduction of our weekly food waste collection in 2025.
“We know our residents want to recycle more and make better use of our natural resources, which these changes will help them to achieve.”
The subscription form for Garden Waste Collections Service will be available from 4 March on on our Garden Waste page.
If residents haven't had time to subscribe or have not received their Green Waste Collection Service sticker, our waste crews will collect all green bins until the end of May. From June 2024, residents who want to have their green bin collection will need to subscribe to the Green Waste Collection Service.
The council will keep residents updated and issue communications in the run up to the launch of the new collection service.
Find out more about recycling.
Posted on Thursday 8th February 2024