Garden waste collections

What you need to know before signing up

• You can use this fortnightly domestic garden waste collection service for things like grass clippings, weeds, leaves and pruning's.  
• This service is for domestic households only.  Businesses, including self-catering and holiday let properties, are not eligible to apply.
• If you're subscribing for the first time, you need to buy one of our brown bins or reusable bags when you sign up.  
• If you've already got one of our brown bins or bags and are renewing your annual subscription you only need to pay for the collection service. 
• You'll need a separate subscription for each bin or bag you own, so if you have two bins you need two collection subscriptions.
• Your bin/bag will be delivered within 8 calendar days 
• Please read our Terms and Conditions before signing up.  They contain important information about container warranties.  As well as when we can accept a request for cancellation and refund.

Subscribe to garden waste collections / renew a subscription

How much does it cost?

Yearly collection subscription 

• A subscription year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The annual subscription costs are shown below.
• If you take out a subscription after April, we will adjust the amount you need to pay to reflect the number of months left of the current subscription year. For example if you sign up in June, you will only be charged for 10 months, ie, June to March inclusive.
• We do not accept new subscriptions for the current year between January and March.  If you sign up during these months, your subscription will not start until the new subscription year on 1 April and will be at the cost for that year.  

One off container prices

If you are a new subscriber to the service, you need to buy one of our brown bins or a reusable bag with your subscription.  You cannot provide your own containers purchased elsewhere for this service. This is a one off cost in your first year and then you can continue to use the bin/bag in subsequent years.  Prices for the three different sizes are:

240 litre bin

1070 mm (incl lid) x 580 mm x 740 mm. This holds the same as 4 black bin bags. This bin costs £19.

140 litre bin

1050 mm (incl lid) x 480 mm x 550 mm. This holds the same as 2 black bin bags. This bin costs £16.

70 litre bag

480mm x 380mm x 380mm with Velcro flap. This holds the same as 1 black bin bag. It costs £9.

What can I put in my garden waste?

When will my garden waste be collected?

Existing garden waste customers

Your collection day from 1 April will be included in your renewal notification. Collection days within the next fortnight can be checked on the my area page of our website.

New garden waste customers

If you:

• want to know what day of the week your collection is likely to be before signing up to the service, or
• have been unable to find out your collection day

you can check the map of garden waste collection days.  Please note the day is not guaranteed. 

Once you have signed up to the service, your actual collection day will be assigned by our contractor within 2 working days.  It can then be found on the my area page of our website.

Please bear in mind that this only shows collections within the next fortnight.  

Moving house?

If you are a subscriber to the garden waste collection service and are moving house, you will need to:

• contact us on 0300 1234 141 when you have a moving date to provide your new address so we know when to start collecting from there  

• take the garden waste bin or bag you purchased from us with you when you move

Prolonging the life of your bin

The bins are only designed to take the items shown in the "what can I put in my garden waste" section above. Please bear in mind that plastic degrades over time due to general wear and tear, and when left outside due to the effects of the sun and other weather conditions. Your bin will not last forever.  We do provide a 12 month warranty for bins (3 months for bags) against manufacturing defects. This excludes circumstances when the bin has been misused.  This includes overfilling or compacting the garden waste within your bin. 

To prolong the life of your bin, please ensure you don’t over fill it or forcibly compact the garden waste within it. This causes pressure to build up against the plastic sides which can cause them to weaken and split.  This shortens the life of your bin.  Similarly bins that are too heavy are at increased risk of becoming damaged during the emptying process.

This would not be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty or be the liability of the council or our collection contractor. In that event, any replacement costs for the bin would have to be met by the customer.

What else can I do with my garden waste?

• You can buy a Cornwall Council subsidised composter or Green Johanna. Prices already include the subsidy.  
• You can take it to one of our Household Waste and Recycling Centres where you can dispose of it for free

Report a missed collection

Please visit our missed collection page to report online.  You can only do this if you have subscribed to our collections service for the current year.  If you leave garden waste out for collection without having renewed your annual subscription your container will be tagged. It will not be emptied. 

If you do not have a current subscription and still wish to benefit from collections please renew your subscription.