Householders across Renfrewshire are today sticking permits to brown bins as the garden waste levy comes into effect.
The controversial fee charges householders £40 per year for the collection of garden waste from a single brown bin. From this morning, only brown bins with the visible permit will be collected by waste workers doing their rounds.
Those with a permit should put both food and garden waste into their brown bin for collection.
Anyone who does not wish to participate can continue to present their brown bin as normal with food waste only but if garden waste is placed into the bin without a permit, then it will not be collected.
Plans for the permit were outlined in Renfrewshire Council’s budget proposals for the 2023/24 year.
Despite opposition from several local councillors about the impact of introducing an additional charge when council tax increases had topped six per cent, the charge was scheduled to come into effect this simmer.
Defending the decision, the council earlier told the Paisley Daily Express: “As garden waste is not a statutory service, a permit has been introduced to ensure we can continue to offer a collection to those who wish to receive one – with not all councils providing one. The charge brings us in line with two-thirds of councils who do.
“The permit runs in line with the financial year from April to March in keeping with the decision made at the council’s budget meeting in March and residents have had a continuous uplift of their garden waste throughout the financial year – with the cost of the permit also supporting the introduction, implementation and administration of the process.”
The rollout of the permit in Renfrewshire is predicted to make the council £828,000 in the current financial year. The permit applies to one bin only so a permit must be purchased for each brown bin a household wishes to be collected.
Brown bins will continue to be collected every two weeks and all other bin collections will remain the same. People who still want to purchase a permit can do so all year round.
Further information, including applying for a permit, is available on the council website at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/garden-waste-collection
Paper application forms are also available at local libraries.
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