Residents face a price hike of more than 50 per cent for garden waste collections, while some other recycling charges are also increasing or being introduced in Bristol City Council’s proposed annual budget. Annual subscriptions for the garden bin service will rise from £32 to £50 a year, £3 less for direct debit payments, and from £14 to £24 for those on benefits, if the plans go ahead.
The authority expects to receive an extra £144,000 a year from the increases, based on its assumption that the higher fees will put off nearly 3,000 of the current 28,000 subscribers. It also plans to introduce a collection charge of up to £5 for Christmas trees, although this will be free to residents signed up to garden waste collections, from which it expects to earn £3,000 annually.
Each replacement black bin and garden waste bin would cost householders £28, or half that for benefits recipients, while a £2.50 fee will be introduced to deliver each recycling container, with both measures raising an extra £100,000. The city council also wants to charge £25 per sofa and £50 for a three-piece suite to cover the cost of new Environment Agency regulations which are making it more expensive to dispose of upholstered furniture.
