We are pleased to announce that residents in Torbay can sign up for new kerbside garden waste collections which will be more convenient, saving time and money on journeys to the Recycling Centre, and also better for the environment.

From today, you can sign up for your garden waste to be collected from your home every other week, for £50 per year (or £40 per year if you are on Council Tax support). Over the next few weeks, brown wheeled bins will be delivered to those who sign up for the service, and then kerbside garden waste collections will begin on Monday 31 October. Though they will briefly pause for the last two weeks of December and first two weeks of January 2023, they will then resume.

For those who choose to opt-in, your garden waste will be collected on alternate weeks to residual (household) waste collections. Anyone on weekly residual (non-recyclable waste) collections will be advised when their collections will be, but this service will be fortnightly for everyone.

This means there will be 24 collections per year, which equates to approximately £2 per collection.

Collected garden waste will be turned into compost – this will all be done locally, it takes four months to convert from garden waste to high-grade compost, which will have no additional additives or chemical process and will be completely organic.

It’s part of wider plans to increase recycling in Torbay from the current 37% rate to the target rate of 50%, and the introduction of garden waste collections will help to contribute to this through the whole life of this service.

Steve Darling, Leader of Torbay Council, said: “We are very pleased to be able to launch this new, convenient and environmentally friendly garden waste collection service for Torbay residents. We listened to feedback from people in the Bay and we know there is a lot of interest in this type of service.

“We are committed to doing all we can to tackle climate change and make Torbay carbon neutral by 2030 and increasing our recycling rates and reducing our carbon footprint are an essential, part of this.”

Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Culture for Torbay Council said: “We are hoping that, with hundreds of tonnes of garden waste currently being disposed of with residual or household waste every year, by introducing this opt in garden waste service we will have a big impact on reducing that, and the added bonus is that the garden waste that’s collected will be used as compost so continue to benefit the local environment.”

For those who aren’t planning to sign up to the household garden waste collections, there are a number of other options. You will still be able to take your garden waste to the Household Waste and Recycling Cenrtre (HWRC) in Paignton, or to the seasonal remote collection points in Torquay and Brixham. In addition residents will still be able to pay for one off garden waste collections via the bulky waste service.

Find out more and sign up