Time to Renew Garden Waste Collection Subscriptions

HOUSEHOLDS who are part of the Council’s garden waste collection service are being reminded to renew their subscription for 2019/20.

Letters are being sent out to existing members of the scheme to encourage them to renew before 13th March 2019 to ensure they do not suffer any break in service. Thousands of households in Reading take advantage of the reliable and convenient fortnightly green bin collection service throughout the year. The annual subscription for 2019/20 is £60 for up to two green bins to be collected per property or £20 for households with one or two green bags.

This year’s subscription has increased in line with the Council budget agreed in January 2018. The Council reviews all fees and charges on an annual basis, including benchmarking with other local authorities.

Reading Borough Council has had to make substantial savings due to ongoing cuts in central government funding and any surplus revenue from green bin collections is used to offset the costs of the operation of the domestic waste service in Reading. The council provided the discretionary garden waste collection service free of charge for 10 years but was forced to introduce a £50 annual charge in 2016 in response to serious funding cuts and increasing demand on council services.

Cllr Sophia James, Lead Councillor for Neighbourhoods & Communities, said

: “Thousands of Reading households are continuing to enjoy the benefits of the Council’s convenient green bin collection service. “Members of the scheme do not have to worry about driving to the recycling centre to dispose of their garden waste but can have it collected from their home by our professional and reliable Steetcare team. “I would encourage existing subscribers to renew before 13th March to ensure they do not suffer any break in service.” Subscriptions can be renewed easily on line using credit or debit cards at http://www.reading.gov.uk/garden-waste. Subscribers will be sent 2019/20 stickers for their green bins in time for 1st April, and only those green bins displaying the up to date stickers will be collected after that date. Households who have not previously subscribed to the garden waste collection scheme can sign up at any time in the year and pay the pro-rata rate until the April renewal.