Garden Waste Service

The service for 2022/23

Online signups for the service running from 28 March 2022 to 24 March 2023 have now closed. Information on the opening 2023/24 service will be added to this webpage at a later date. If you would still like to sign up for the 2022/23 service for its remaining collections, please call customer services on 01529 414155.

Once you have signed up to the service, your collection dates will be added alongside your black, green-lidded and purple bins dates on the Find my bin day tool. 

If you would like to find out your collection dates before signing up, you may request a calendar via the Request my bin day form. 

New customers

You can opt in to the Garden Waste Collection Service part way through the year, however there is no reduction to cost. Please see our breakdown of costs towards the bottom of this page.

Your subscription to the Service will end on 24th March 2023 - not 12 months from the date you began your subscription. 

We will aim to deliver your sticker (your physical proof of subscription to the service) in March. 

Existing customers

Renewing your subscription

You can renew your subscription to the Garden Waste Collection Service and receive your 2022/23 sticker in March. Complete the Garden Waste renew or apply online form (currently closed for online applications - please call customer services on 01529 414155).

Requesting changes

If you have renewed your Garden Waste Collection Service or have had it automatically renew as a direct debit customer and need to request an amendment, you can do so via our Request amendments to service form (currently closed for online applications - please call customer services on 01529 414155).

Accepted garden waste

Items wanted and not wanted in brown bin
Yes Please No Thanks
Grass Bags (plastic or biodegradable)
Weeds Food waste (including fruit and vegetables)
Hedge cuttings Ash
Leaves Glass
Clean straw Bricks and hardcore
Flowers Tree stumps and root balls
Plants Grass sods and turf
Twigs Soil
Small branches Household waste
Real Christmas trees
(cut into small lengths)		 Soiled pet bedding

Cost explanation

As a discretionary service which residents choose to subscribe to or not, it is essential that the Garden Waste Collection Service covers its own costs without the need for subsidy from general taxation.

Reviewed periodically to ensure the charge is set at the right level to achieve full cost-recovery, projections on income and expenditure have to be made over a five-year period.

The £40 charge for 2022/23 has been carefully calculated to take an aggregated, longer-term view of anticipated customer take-up and increased operating costs – fuel, tyres, vehicle maintenance, staffing costs etc.

It is our practice to regularly assess levels of service take-up and cost-recovery, with a further review scheduled in two years’ time.

At £40, the North Kesteven Garden Waste Collection Service continues to be the most cost-effective of all the Lincolnshire districts.

  • Collection of first bin - £40.00
  • Collection of additional bins - £8.00 per bin
  • Purchase of additional brown bin - £35.00

 You can also find details about purchasing discounted compost bins. 

Frequently asked questions

Sign up to the garden waste service by completing our Garden Waste renew or apply online form or calling customer services.

  • Collection of first bin - £40.00  
  • Collection of additional bins - £8.00 per bin
  • Purchase of additional brown bin - £35.00

Grass, Weeds, Hedge Cuttings, Leaves, Clean Straw, Flowers, Plants,Twigs, Small Branches, Real Christmas Trees (cut into small Lengths).

The process for composting the contents of the brown garden waste bins, takes place in the open.  This is called “open windrow composting” this means the garden waste is placed in pile and turned by a machine which promotes the composting process.  

The main outlet for the compost is agriculture.

The Animal Byproducts Regulations requires Council not to mix materials such as veg peelings; that may have come into contact with meat products, into a waste stream that will end up in agricultural use.

Yes as it has not been into the home/kitchen where it could be contaminated by meat products.

The service is discretionary. 

You can increase your number of bins when you sign up to the garden waste service by completing our online form or calling customer services. If you have already signed up for this year, you can complete our Request amendments to service form.

Turned into compost for agricultural use.

Fortnightly but drops to monthly during the months of December and January.

The service will run from 28 March 2022 to 24 March 2023. 

Direct debits are renewed automatically. One off payments can be made at any point throughout the year.

Once you have signed up to the service, your collection dates will be added alongside your black green-lidded and purple bins dates on the Find my bin day tool. 

The charge for the garden waste service has not increased for two years.  The costs to deliver the service have increased which have to be absorbed by the users of the service.  There has however, been an adjustment to the collection of any additional bins collected from the same property due to the vehicle already being on site and the collection charge has been adjusted to reflect this.

North Kesteven District Council receives no income from the garden waste it collects.  Lincolnshire County Council who, as the disposal authority for all collection authorities in Lincolnshire, have to make arrangements for the processing of garden waste collected.  To do this they let contracts with composting companies.  Lincolnshire County Council have to pay the composting company, this we call a “a gate fee”.

Compost bins are available at a discounted price from the Get Composting website.

Compost bins are available at a discounted price from the Get Composting website.

Information on disposing of Christmas trees can be found on the St Barnabas website.

The garden waste service can be transferred to the new property if required or cancelled.

If you move out of the district or stop using the service for any reason, we will not give a refund. 

Damaged bins will be repaired or replaced for service subscribers at no charge to the resident.

See our missing, stolen or broken bin webpage. 

New stickers can be sent out but a missing sticker should not prevent the bin from being emptied.