MYTH: Garden waste is only collected from city residents
FACT: Garden waste is collected from three main sources in the city:
- From brown bins in the fortnightly kerbside collections
- From the Household Recycling Centre (HRC) in Fengate, Peterborough
- From parks/open spaces in the city which is collected by Peterborough Limited as part of its ground maintenance works.
MYTH: Garden waste goes to the same place as black bin waste
FACT: All our garden waste is sent to a facility at Ramsey for open windrow composting. Open windrow composting is where shredded organic garden waste (leaves, grass, twigs) is arranged in long, narrow, open-air rows (windrows) to decompose into compost.
Naturally occurring microbes break down the material and the piles are regularly turned with specialist machinery to introduce oxygen and manage moisture and heat oxygen, break down the organic waste, kill pathogens, and produce finished compost. This process usually takes between eight to 16 weeks.
MYTH: The council makes loads of money from selling compost
FACT: At the moment, the compost produced from the garden waste is bagged in 1m3 bags and all material goes out in bulk to horticulture, farmland businesses and schools. We do not sell this and we do not make a profit.
MYTH: Hardly any garden waste is collected each year
FACT: Last year, from the kerbside brown bin alone, we collected 6,202 tonnes of garden waste - roughly the weight of 620 double decker buses.
MYTH: It’s better to put garden waste in the black bin for free
FACT: It costs us significantly more to dispose of material placed in the black bin than it does to dispose of garden waste in the brown bin. We estimate we could save around £800,000/year if garden waste placed in black bins went into the brown bin instead.
Based on waste analysis carried out in 2021, around 20 per cent of the black bin waste we collect is made up of Garden Waste. This equated to 8,000 tonnes last year.
MYTH: Peterborough shouldn’t charge for garden waste collections - it be part of our council tax payments?
FACT: Around two thirds of councils currently charge for garden waste collections including our neighbouring authorities in Fenland and Huntingdonshire.
Garden waste collections, unlike recycling or waste collections, are classified as a discretionary service and councils are not required by law to provide this service free of charge. Therefore, garden waste is classified as a type of waste for which a charge may be applied. Not everyone in the city lives in properties with gardens - this is a fairer way of funding the scheme.
MYTH: The garden waste collection service originally ran throughout the winter
FACT: Ever since we introduced the service there has been a break over the colder months. Over the colder months less garden waste is generated so the service has a short break however, if you have excess garden waste during this break you can take it to the Household Recycling Centre in Fengate.
MYTH: Some people say you can put garden waste under their recycling in the green bin for free?
FACT: We strongly discourage residents from doing this because it will spoil the recycling efforts of others and will then need to be disposed of as black bin waste which costs the council more. The more money we spend on waste disposal the less funds are available for other areas. We would urge people with gardens to either sign up for the brown bin service, home compost or visit the Household Recycling Centre.
MYTH: The garden waste collection service charge is based on the size of your garden.
FACT: We do not provide smaller bins or reduced rates for smaller gardens, managing this would be extremely challenging and smaller bins are less practical for garden waste.
MYTH: You can put animal waste in your brown bin. Huntingdonshire District Council allows animal waste in the garden waste bins
FACT: Huntingdonshire District Council process their garden waste in a different way. Peterborough City Council sends its garden waste to a facility in Ramsey for composting, and this process does not allow the inclusion of animal waste or food waste due to animal by product regulations.
We offer a separate food waste collection in Peterborough.
MYTH: You can get a discount on the garden waste service if you live alone.
FACT: This is not true. Council tax discounts are granted to single occupants because of their reduced impact on wider council services; in contrast, the brown bin service is provided per property and no discounts or reductions are available.
MYTH: You can only pay by direct debit for your garden waste collection service.
FACT: We have moved to a new subscription system. Residents need to register for an account and sign up again even if they previously paid by direct debit. Everyone must re-register.
You can either pay for the full year or, if you sign up on-line, you can choose a monthly re-occurring payment subscriptions. If you choose the monthly re-occurring option:
- Payments will be taken automatically from your debit or credit card
- The cost will be split in equal amounts over the remaining months of your subscription period
- You do not need to sign up again as this will continue for future subscriptions
- This replaces Direct Debit, but works in a similar way
To make an annual payment over the phone, please call 01733 425425 and select option 3. Our telephone lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays). If you sign up over the phone, please make the call handler aware if you have a bin or not. Monthly re-occurring payments are not available over the phone.