Households may face organic waste collection charge

Households in Medway will be able to sign up for an additional brown bin to be collected weekly, but it will cost them £40 per year

A council is introducing new charges for households who throw away more food and garden waste than others.

Medway Council, in Kent, has agreed to implement a redesigned waste collection service which will see residents pay £40 for the authority to remove some organic waste.

The plan, to be introduced in early 2025, would change the rules around bin collections for food and garden waste.

Residents will get one 240-litre wheelie bin, or two brown sacks and a 23-litre food waste bin collected for free, but anything above that will cost more.

Households will be able to sign up for an additional brown bin to be collected weekly, but it will cost them £40 per year.

Medway Council is the only authority in Kent to offer a free weekly food and garden and waste collection service, and one of only 10 across the country, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Implementation plan

Cllr Simon Curry, portfolio holder for climate change and strategic regeneration, said he was confident residents who needed the service would subscribe and because of the council’s financial position, services such as this would incur a cost.

He told a cabinet meeting: “We provide a better and more frequent service than most other local authorities, but we’re adding to that for those people with larger quantities of material.

“There is a cost associated with it and, as colleagues know, we’ve got a huge financial problem with the council at the moment.”

The report did raise the possibility of residents avoiding the new charge by mixing any additional garden and food waste in with their regular bin bags. If that were to happen, contamination costs could end up costing the council.

The plans were agreed unanimously by Medway Council’s cabinet and a detailed implementation plan will now be drafted.