Garden waste collection

Garden waste collection

Recycle your green garden waste by using our kerbside collection service

Our kerbside collection service is a great way to recycle garden waste such as grass cuttings, clippings and weeds. To participate, you need to place your green garden waste in official clear sacks and place them on the vehicle kerbside by 6.30 am on the same day as your black bin or sack collection. All green waste is taken to a waste transfer facility prior to onward transportation to a compost facility.

Why Compost?

Landfilling biodegradable waste can contribute to environmental problems, such as leachate production and the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, which can contribute to climate change. Therefore, local authorities across England have been set limits on the amounts of biodegradable municipal waste they can dispose of in landfill sites.

The European Landfill Directive requires EU member states to reduce the amounts of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill by 2010 to just 75% of that produced in 1995. Composting has a key role to play if the UK is to meet this target.

How do I purchase sacks?

Each year the Council reviews the costs of providing its services. Currently, the garden waste service is operated at a cost which is subsidised through the sale of the clear plastic sacks. This means that the price of the Council´s clear sacks needs to increase to compensate for external price increases.

The annual contract inflation, which includes operating costs such as labour and fuel, has increased substantially more than in previous years and this, along with a price increase of the actual cost of producing the sacks, has meant that additional costs have been added.

In addition, at the end of March 2007, the composting facility that the Council had used since the service was introduced was no longer able to accept green waste material due to a change in licence requirements. Although Woking Borough Council was able to secure an excellent alternative location, there was an increase in the cost of processing green waste at this facility .

The official Woking Borough Council clear sacks are priced at £3.00 for a roll of 10 sacks.

Clear sacks are available by post at the following charges-

  • £3.00 for one roll of clear sacks, plus £1.75 for postage, total of £4.75
  • £6.00 fir two rolls of clear sacks, plus £2.80 for postage, total £8.80
  • For more than two rolls of clear sacks the £2.80 postage charge applies plus a postage charge of £1.40 for each additional roll.

The clear sacks used to contain your green waste are manufactured using 100% recycled material.

Please contact Customer Services on 01483 755855 or email waste@woking.gov.uk for further information.

Where are they available from?

Civic Offices Cash Office, Gloucester Square, Woking

9am - 4.45pm, Monday to Friday

Biffa Waste Services, Monument Way East Depot

7.30am - 4.30pm Monday to Thursday, 7.30am - 3pm Friday

St Mary's Community Centre, Byfleet (off Rectory Lane)

9am - 5pm Monday to Friday

Moorcroft Community Centre, Westfield Road

2pm - 4pm Monday to Friday

The Vyne, Knaphill

2pm - 4pm Monday to Friday

Best One Shop, Dartmouth Avenue, Sheerwater

8am - 8pm Monday to Saturday

8am - 6pm Sunday

Where do I present my clear sacks?

The collection day will be the same day that your black bin is emptied. Please place your green garden waste in the clear sack on the vehicle kerbside by 6.30am on the same day as your general waste (black bin) collection (or the night before) once every two weeks.

Here's what you can put in your clear sacks

  • Grass
  • Tree and hedge clippings
  • Plants
  • Weeds
  • Leaves
  • Garden Fruit

Here's what you cannot put in your clear sacks

  • Anything over 12 centimeters or five inches in diameter
  • Vegetable peelings
  • Kitchen waste
  • Paper
  • Building materials (bricks, rubble, wood etc)
  • Earth / soil / stones / tree branches
  • Garden toys / furniture / ornaments
  • Fence materials
  • Pots / wire / tyres / string

CONTAMINATED SACKS OR SACKS TOO HEAVY TO LIFT (AS A GUIDE 10 KGS) WILL NOT BE REMOVED.

Home Composting

As a Woking resident you are entitled to purchase a home composter at a subsidised rate from a company by the name of Blackwall.

Home composting is one of the best ways to recycle garden waste as it avoids the transport emissions associated with collecting this waste from households. It can also help to replace the use of artificial fertilisers and peat in the garden.

For more information please telephone Blackwall on 0845 130 60 90

or visit the website at: http://www.getcomposting.com/woking