York Council says green waste collection service a success

York Council figures showed more than half of households eligible for collections had subscribed since they began in August while the fly-tipping of green waste had fallen.

Cllr Jenny Kent, the Labour-run council’s Environment Executive Member, said it showed concerns about the charges had been misplaced with discounts and bin sharing available for households struggling to pay.

But the Liberal Democrat opposition’s environment spokesperson Cllr Paula Widdowson said figures showing York’s most deprived wards had the lowest take up rates demonstrated it was having an unfair impact.

It comes as council figures showed 36,866 of the 66,155 households eligible for subscriptions, 56 per cent, were subscribed to the service as of November.

Collections currently cost £46.50-a-year, with those who signed up last year paying £21 and half-price discounts available for those claiming Council Tax Support.

York joined the more than 70 per cent of councils which charge for green waste collections when it introduced them.

A hike to £49-a-year has been proposed as part of Budget plans for the coming financial year to help close a black hole worth £10 million according to council forecasts.

The 50 per cent discount for Council Tax Support recipients would remain and it would be extended to those with a severe mental impairment, with those collection subscriptions costing £24.50.

The council has begun contacting households after subscriptions for this year opened on Monday, January 13 for a 40-week collection season running from March to December.

A council report on this year’s collections stated that 216 households would get the chance to pay for the service for the first time this year.

Cllr Jenny Kent

It added the continuation of the council’s Bags to Bins programme, where households without wheelie bins will be given one, opened up the possibility of extending garden waste collections further.

Council figures showed there were 43 fly-tipping incidents involving green waste recorded from June to October, four fewer than during the same period last year.

They also showed there had been 2,215 fewer visits to the council-run Towthorpe and Hazel Court tips between early August and the end of September.

The amount of green waste collected at Towthorpe and Hazel Court was up in 2024 compared to the previous year, rising from 781.96 to 860.44 and from 1,310.64 to 1,435.96 respectively.

Figures showed the amount of black bin waste collected at kerbsides fell from 35,233 tonnes between March and December 2023 to 33,273 during the same period last year.

The council’s report stated the fall and a drop in green waste from 15,452 to 13,791 showed people were not putting it out with their general rubbish.

Council officials estimate the charges could raise between £1.5 million and £1.6 million this year if subscription numbers remain similar to last year, with the service costing more than £1.8 million to run.

But figures showed that while take up rates reached almost three-quarters of eligible households in the most affluent parts of York, subscriptions were far lower in the most deprived.

Take up rates in Copmanthorpe, Wheldrake and Rural West, the wards with the lowest deprivation levels in York, were 74, 66 and 73 per cent respectively.

In the wards with the highest levels of deprivation, Westfield, Clifton and Guildhall, take up rates were 43, 41 and 30 per cent respectively.

The take up rate for eligible households in receipt of Council Tax Support was 43 per cent on average across York.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Cllr Widdowson said proposals to hike what her party has dubbed a Green Bin Tax should be scrapped and more discounts offered for struggling households.

Cllr Widdowson said: “Many families will have made use of the discounted rate of £21 for a partial year collection whilst they explore alternate methods of disposal of their garden waste.

“The deeply unpopular Green Bin Tax is unfair, an increase will mean more cars on roads as residents will drive their green waste to disposal centres, more fly-tipping and more waste burnt and put in black bins.”

Labour Environment Executive Member Cllr Kent said claims about the effect of the charges amounted to scaremongering.

Cllr Kent said: “The rollout of the subscription service was successful, and included a discount for those who can least afford it.

“If anyone wants to reduce the cost by sharing a bin with a neighbour, and for those paying the discounted rate, the service will cost less than 50p a week.

“This decision has been taken to help stabilise the council’s finances following the Liberal Democrats losing financial grip during their years in power.”