Green-fingered residents encouraged to sign up to garden waste service

With spring on the horizon, people in Swindon are being encouraged to add their names to the growing list of households signed up to Swindon Borough Council’s garden waste service.

For an annual cost of £50, or just £2 per collection, residents can benefit from the use of a green wheelie bin which is emptied fortnightly, removing the hassle of taking bulky green waste such as grass cuttings and hedge clippings to the tip.

Existing customers will receive an email or letter inviting them to subscribe for another year. To ensure an uninterrupted service, re-subscriptions should be made by Sunday 10 March 2019.

All paid-for subscribers will receive a personalised tamper-proof sticker to put on their bin and only bins with a sticker and associated account will be emptied.

Garden waste collected is sent for composting and recycled into environmentally-friendly soil improver, much of which is used to support sustainable food production.

The service, which is funded by those residents who subscribe to it, has been running for five years and last year more than 18,500 households took advantage of the service.

Councillor Maureen Penny, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and the Environment, said: “The number of households who have signed up to the garden waste service has been steadily growing over the past few years but we’re urging even more people to sign up.

“It is an excellent service and it represents great value for money with the convenience of having your waste collected from your house.

“All of the garden waste we collect is transformed into nutrient-rich soil conditioner. This can then be used in a range of different applications, such as for agriculture and land reclamation.”

As part of the Council’s move to become more digital, all subscriptions will now be managed online through the ‘My Account’ system. Residents can sign up or renew their subscription online at www.swindon.gov.uk/gardenwaste.

If you don’t have access to the internet or would like assistance in setting up your online account, please contact customer services on 01793 445500.