Garden waste collections: costs, rules and alternatives

What the rules say

Garden waste is not one of the materials every English council must collect from every home. GOV.UK guidance for waste collectors says a council only has a duty to collect garden waste if the household has asked for the service and paid any related charges. That is why most councils run a subscription, and why the same bin can be free in one city and cost £58 or £66.58 a year in others.

The guidance adds three rules that affect you. Where food and garden waste are collected together in one bin, that bin must be emptied weekly, and the council may charge only for the garden waste part. Householders should be told they do not need a garden waste service to keep their free weekly food waste collection. And for councils that do run the service, the guidance recommends collections over at least 36 weeks of the year.

What five councils do

We checked five council pages on 2 October 2026. The differences are bigger than most people expect.

Leeds: free, with a winter break. The council says it provides the brown bin at no extra charge, limited to one bin per household. Collections stop over winter, and in 2026 they restarted on Monday 23 March. A new brown bin carries an admin charge.

Shropshire: paid, one flat fee. The subscription year runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027 and costs £58 per bin, up to a maximum of three bins. The council says the charge is £58 regardless of when you sign up, and that collections happen every two weeks once your bin displays the subscription sticker. The price is being reviewed in the council's 2027/28 budget consultation and could change from 1 April 2027.

Sheffield: paid, with a rolling start. A new green bin costs £35 including delivery, and 20 collections over 12 months cost £66.58. Because the year starts when you sign up rather than on a fixed date, you can join at any time. There is a short break for Christmas and New Year.

Bradford: paid, every four weeks. The service runs from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2027 with 12 collections, one every four weeks. An extra brown bin costs £47 a year. There are no collections for four weeks after 18 December 2026, and they restart on 19 January 2027. A bin needs a valid sticker to be emptied, and the council says it cannot offer a refund on cancellation.

Birmingham: suspended when we checked. The council's page, last updated on 9 September 2025, said the garden waste service was suspended until further notice because of strike action. Check the page for the current position.

Choosing whether to subscribe

Work out your own cost per collection before you sign up, using the number of collections each council states. Sheffield's price works out at roughly three pounds thirty-three pence for each of its 20 collections. Bradford's every-four-weeks schedule means 12 collections a year, so a household that cuts the lawn weekly in summer will fill a bin quickly, while Shropshire's fortnightly service empties it twice as often.

Things worth checking before you pay:

• When the year starts. Shropshire's year starts on 1 November and the fee does not change with the sign-up date. Sheffield starts your 12 months when you join. Bradford's service has a fixed run from 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2027.
• How many bins you can have. Shropshire allows up to three, each at £58. Leeds limits its free brown bin to one per household, and Bradford charges £47 a year for an extra brown bin.
• Whether collections stop over winter. Leeds pauses over winter, Bradford has a four-week gap after 18 December 2026, and Sheffield has a short break for Christmas and New Year.
• What is allowed in the bin. Bradford and Sheffield both list food waste, soil and plastic as not accepted, and Sheffield's list also includes mulch and large branches.

Alternatives that cost nothing

• The tip. Sheffield and Leeds each say that garden waste can be taken to a household waste recycling centre free of charge. Our bulky waste and tips guide covers the permits and booking rules that some councils use.
• Home composting. Bradford and Leeds both point to composting. Leeds says to leave grass cuttings on the lawn and reuse garden waste where you can.
• Sharing a bin. Bradford says that if you share a brown bin with a neighbour, one of you has to subscribe and the council will not get involved in any payment arrangements between neighbours.

For what goes in each garden waste bin, and for current prices, always use your council's page, which we link from each of our council pages, such as Shropshire, Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds.