Why is the council charging for garden waste collection?
This charge has been introduced for the following reasons:
- To charge only those residents that wish to use the service. Whereas in previous years all households would have paid a contribution towards the cost of this service regardless of whether or not they used it.
- By introducing charges for non-essential services, such as the collection of garden waste, the council is able to generate income that can be used to offset some of the increases in costs to deliver essential services.
- The introduction of charges for the collection of garden waste will mean that the service pays for itself and therefore any increase in operational costs in future years will not contribute to further council tax increases.
- Here in Sandwell we were amongst a minority of councils that do not charge for the collection of garden waste (currently at least 65% of English local authorities already charge).
- By introducing a subscription scheme for the collection of garden waste we will only require vehicles to be driven down streets where we know residents are using the service. This will reduce the amount of resources including staff time and fuel being used.
- By reducing distances travelled, this will reduce the amount of pollution emitted by vehicles and lower carbon emissions which will contribute to the council's climate change targets.