Warwick district sees highest one-off charge for green bins in area

The BBC has been investigating how and what local councils charge for in terms of garden waste collections and the containers.

In the analysis it was found that the Warwick district had one of the highest one-off charges for getting a green waste bin at £30 in the West Midlands area.

This is broken down into a £25 charge for the bin and a £5 delivery charge.

However this is a one-off charge and the authority does not charge for a green waste collection service.

In the West Midlands, of 30 local authorities, 15 (50 per cent) do charge for the service.

While the Government has been consulting on whether households in England should receive free garden waste collections, analysis by the BBC has found that some local authorities are charging up to £100 a year.

Critics say gardeners are “increasingly being punished” and have described the charges as a “quiet green-garden tax which seems to go against every other positive environmental initiative that the UK is trying to promote”.

The Government says it believes that providing a regular kerbside collection service is the “best way” to increase recycling of garden waste. It has asked for opinions on the possibility of all councils in England providing the service free of charge from 2023.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said if free garden waste collections became mandatory then “the government will have to pay the full new burden’s cost”.

Councillor David Renard, environment spokesman for the LGA, said: “Ultimately garden waste collection has to be paid for by someone. It’s only fair that those households which have gardens and generate the waste pay for the service.”

When asked about the Government's proposals and their current bin charges, a spokesperson from Warwick District Council said: "At present the Council has no plans to alter its current system of charging for new or replacement green bins.

"We are waiting to see what inclusions there may be to this service in the final consultation proposals for the Governments Resources and Waste Strategy for England."