28 Feb Cost of garden waste collection in Harlow to halve
Harlow Council is to drop the cost of its fortnightly garden waste collection by more than a half from £96 a year to £42 a year.
The cost of the Harlow service had been one of the highest in the country. The council is reducing the cost from 1 April 2020 as part of planned changes as a result of a new waste and recycling contract which started last year.
Currently over 1,000 households in Harlow subscribe to the service. From 1 April 2020 existing subscribers will pay £42 a year for all year round fortnightly collections. New subscribers will pay the same plus a one-off fee of £30 for a bin or a year’s supply of bags. Homes not suitable for bins will still be able to subscribe to a fortnightly service with compostable bags supplied instead of a bin. Households can reduce the cost of the service further by sharing a bin with neighbours. Residents will be able to sign-up or renew their subscription from 25 March 2020.
Residents who prefer to use the service on an ad-hoc basis will be able to buy a roll of 20 compostable bags from the council for £19 and make free bookings as and when needed.
Councillor Danny Purton, Harlow Council’s portfolio holder for environment, said: “The new waste contract has enabled us to review the garden waste service so that more bin collections can be carried out every week. This means more residents can benefit and we can reduce the cost to those who use the service. By law we don’t have to provide garden waste collections but we recognise that many residents want the convenience of being able to recycle their garden waste from home. The cost has been too high for too long and we have listened and responded to our residents. But a reduced cost to residents does not mean a reduced service! Garden waste bin collections in Harlow will continue to be fortnightly all year round.”
