Garden waste subscription

We offer a paid-for garden waste collection service.

You pay for a year or half-year subscription. We collect from your home every two weeks (apart from two weeks during the Christmas and New Year period).

How it works

When you subscribe

We deliver a brown 240L wheelie bin to your property. If your property isn't eligible for wheelie bins, we deliver two re-usable waste sacks. You cannot choose to have sacks instead of a wheelie bin.

If you want more capacity for your garden waste, you need to take out an additional subscription.

We'll deliver your bin or sacks within ten working days. You do not need to be at home when we deliver the bin or sacks. We'll leave your bin at the front of your property or post sacks through your letterbox.

When your bin or sacks arrive

You can personalise your wheelie bin as you wish.

Put your garden waste in your wheelie bin or sacks. You can read more about what goes in your garden waste.

When we collect

You leave your wheelie bin or sacks out for collection every two weeks. You cannot put out more waste alongside your bin or sacks.

Your collection day will be on the same day as your recycling but on the alternate week to your black wheelie bin collection. You can use our online tool to look up your collection day.

If we don't collect your bin or sacks, you can report a missed collection.

Subscription period

A year subscription runs from 1 April to 31 March. You need to sign up by 1 April each year to get a full 12-month subscription. A half-year subscription runs from September 29 to March 31.

There is a two-week interruption to collections over the Christmas period. We will put the exact dates on the website closer to the time.

This means if you subscribe for a full year, you get 25 collections. This means each collection costs £2.60.

When the subscription period is coming to an end, we will contact you about renewing your subscription for the next year.

Enquiries or problems

You can report a missed collection if we haven't collected your bin or bags.

Get in contact with us at customerservices@hounslow.gov.uk if:

• you wish to cancel your subscription (there is a cooling off period of 14 days but no refunds offered after that)
• your bin or bags are damaged, lost or stolen
• you're moving home within the borough
• you want an additional subscription
• you live in a flat and are not sure if you can have a subscription
• you represent a school that wants to subscribe
• you have any other enquiries or problems

What happens to your garden waste

We take garden waste to purpose-built sites, where it is turned into a compost through a process called open windrow composting.

The six-week process allows the green waste to breakdown naturally in the presence of oxygen.

This creates a high-quality compost that is certified to the PAS100 quality standard. 

Terms and conditions

1. Description

a. The collection of Garden Waste is a chargeable service.

b. The Council will provide a brown 240-litre wheeled bin or if a property is exempt from having a wheeled bin or if agreed with the Council two 90-litre reusable brown sacks.

c. Your subscription lasts one year from 1 April to 31 March. The collections will be made fortnightly throughout the whole year, except for two weeks over the Christmas period. Specific dates will be provided closer to the time. You will receive a total of 25 collections a year if you subscribe from 1 April.

d. Subscriptions made after 1 April will still end on the 31 March.

e. Between 29 September to mid-November, you can sign up for a half-year service which will run from 29 September to 31 March.

2. Eligibility

a. Residents must live within the London Borough of Hounslow.

b. Properties must be accessible by a refuse collection vehicle and operatives.

c. The Garden Waste bin/s or sacks must be stored within the boundary of the property.

d. Residents in flats are not eligible unless the Garden Waste can be presented on the ground floor and is accessible.

e. Schools are eligible to sign up to the Garden Waste Service.

f. Businesses are not eligible for this service.

3. Fees and application

a. The annual charge for the service is £65.00.

b. Payment can be made by all major Debit or Credit Cards except American Express.

c. A 50% discount is offered to those in receipt of Council Tax Reduction (Support). Council Tax Reduction (Support) is a means-tested council tax discount and refers to residents in receipt of income-based Council Tax Reduction (single person occupancy discount or disability band relief does not apply). 

d. When claiming the Council Tax Reduction discount, please ensure that you quote your Council Tax Reduction (Support) 6-digit claims reference number. Officers will check for eligibility.

e. The Half Year Garden Waste Service (running from Sept-Mar) will be charged at £35.40, sign up for the half year service opens in September and closes mid-November.

f. You can cancel the service at any time, but we do not offer refunds.

g. Residents will be required to subscribe to the Garden Waste collection service on an annual basis.

h. Once the application has been received, the bin(s) or sacks will be delivered within 10 working days. However, at peak times this may be delayed. If you are renewing your existing service, you should continue to use your current bin(s) or sacks.

i. The replacement charge for a lost or stolen bin(s) or sacks is £65.00. The only exception to this is if it is damaged or lost during the collection process, in which case it will be replaced free of charge.

j. The Council reserves the right to refuse an application for the Garden Waste collection service.

k. The Council reserves the right to amend the fee. Appropriate notice will be given prior to any alteration.

l. We may use the subscription data that we hold to help maintain accurate records, and to facilitate the efficient operation of the Garden Waste service.

4. Refunds

a. No refunds will be provided for cancellation of the service outside of the 14-day cooling off period.

b. If a collection has been missed by the Council, please report a missed collection online. A remedial collection will be provided within two working days, but no excess waste will be taken. See section 8 below.

c. There are no full or part fee refunds for missed collections.

5. Cancelling the service

a. You have 14 days from date of payment to cancel the service if you have not already received the bin(s) or sacks or have had a collection. No refunds will be offered for cancelling the service after this period.

b. You can cancel the service at any time, but we do not offer refunds.

6. Garden waste bin(s) or sacks

a. The Garden Waste bin(s) and sacks remain the property of Hounslow Council.

b. The maximum number of sacks per household is 2, the maximum number of bins per household is 10.

c. Only Garden Waste bins or sacks supplied by the Council will be emptied. Garden Waste presented in any other container will not be collected.

d. The resident is responsible for the general condition and cleaning of the Garden Waste bin.

e. Lost or stolen Garden Waste bins will be replaced at a cost of £65.00.

f. The Council does not accept liability for Garden Waste bins used for any other purpose other than for the collection of Garden Waste. Misused Garden Waste bins may be removed

g. If you move house within the London Borough of Hounslow you should take your bin(s) or sacks with you. You will need to give 14 days’ notice of the dates that you will be moving to ensure that your service is transferred to your new address. If you move out of the borough you should cancel your subscription and we will make arrangements to collect the bin from you. Any portion of the annual fee remaining is not refundable.

7. Collections

a. Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks must be presented by 7.00am as close to the edge of your property (by the gate) as is safely practical, i.e., the nearest point to the collection vehicle. You must not leave bins or sacks on the public highway; they must remain within your property boundary but should be clearly visible from the road.

b. Collections will be made fortnightly on the same day as your recycling collection (alternate week to your rubbish collection).

c. Following delivery of new Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks, you must wait until your next scheduled collection day for the Garden Waste to be collected. You can look up your collection day on the collection day finder.

d. The Council reserves the right to alter the collection day but will provide reasonable notice to subscribers.

e. Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks are to be placed at the same point as the recycling boxes for collection on the designated collection day.

f. If you are sharing a service with your neighbour, please ensure the Garden Waste is presented at the address the service is registered to.

g. We reserve the right to suspend collections in exceptional circumstances, for example in adverse weather conditions.

8. Missed collections

a. A report of a missed collection will not be accepted until after 5pm on the day of collection - once drivers' reports have been checked. This is to avoid sending vehicles back unnecessarily or taking reports when crews may still be working. A missed collection must be reported by 5pm the day after the designated collection day.

b. If the Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks are not presented by 7.00am on the day of collection they cannot be reported as a 'missed collection'. Responsibility for correct disposal of the waste will then become that of the householder.

c. Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks that are not presented for collection by the time the Garden Waste crew arrive at the property will be recorded as a ‘not presented’ or ‘not visible’ on the electronic waste management system.

d. If a bin is recorded on the waste management system as ‘not presented’, the responsibility for disposal will become that of the householder and the Council will not return to collect the waste.

e. Where residents do not present their Garden Waste bin(s) or sacks for collection in accordance with Council requirements, the resident will have the following options

i. Take the waste to a Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.

ii. Store the waste until the next collection day.

iii. Pay £10.00 for an additional collection.

f. Should a missed collection be correctly reported (subject to the waste management system not showing the bin as being ‘not presented’, ‘contaminated’ or ‘too heavy’ for collection) the Council will return and collect the waste within 2 working days.

9. Permitted materials

a. Only loose, compostable, and biodegradable Garden Waste contained within the bin(s) or sacks supplied will be collected.

b. Garden Waste includes grass cuttings, flowers, small tree branches, loose leaves, shrub, hedge trimmings and windfall fruit from your own garden.

c. Garden Waste must not contain large branches (greater than 2cm in diameter), stones, gravel, food waste, flowerpots, bags, containers, or any other kind of contamination.

d. If there are any non-permitted materials in the bin(s) or sacks, we will not collect your garden waste and it will be recorded as 'contaminated' on the electronic waste management system.

e. If the bin(s) or sacks are contaminated it is your responsibility to remove the item(s) of contamination prior to the next collection.

f. Any excess waste placed on top or next to your bin(s) or sacks the container will not be collected.

g. The bin lid must be closed when presented for collection.

h. Garden Waste bins that are overflowing or overweight will not be emptied and you will be required to remove the excess weight before the next collection.

i. Bin(s) or sacks are deemed overweight when operatives are unable to move them or the vehicle’s equipment is unable to lift the bin.