15 February 2024

South Hams residents can now sign up to or renew their subscription for the district’s garden waste collection service for 2024/25.

If you sign up before 31 March 2024, you’ll pay £52 for a year-long subscription running from 1 April 2024 that covers collections for one brown wheelie bin. There is a maximum of two subscriptions (which would cover two bins) per household. Subscribers can put grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, cut flowers and plants, small branches, weeds, leaves, twigs, windfall fruit and vase flowers in their brown bin.

If you sign up after 31 March 2024, the service will cost £55. Subscribers should note that the service will be suspended over the winter for four weeks, from 20 December 2024 to 20 January 2025.

Cllr Jacqi Hodgson, Executive Member for Waste, said: “This past year has been the first year of a paid garden waste collection service in the South Hams, and we have delivered a high quality of service for our residents.

“The price has risen slightly on last year’s fee, but that is so we can continue to deliver a great service while covering our costs.

“Compared to what private companies charge for collections, the annual fee represents very good value for money. It’s convenient, reliable, and worth considering if you have a garden.”

You can sign up to the service in two ways:

• The quickest and easiest way to sign up is on our website: www.southhams.gov.uk/gardenwaste - the website is also full of information and useful FAQs on the service.
• Alternatively, call us: You can call us on 01803 861234. We expect phone lines to be very busy, so there may be a wait.

If you’re already a subscriber to the garden waste service, there will be no changes to your service if you renew your subscription by 1 April, and you can continue to use your brown bin with no interruptions.

If you decide not to sign up for the service, you can still take your garden waste to all three recycling centres in the South Hams. Full details, including opening hours, are available online here: www.devon.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/centre/

Alternatively, you can find out more on home composting possibilities here: www.recycledevon.org/in-the-garden/how-to-compost

The Council has also launched its own community composting scheme, supporting local community composting groups. A scheme in Marldon recently launched to great success. If you’d like to find out more about how the Council can support you to set up a scheme, visit: www.southhams.gov.uk/community-composting