Household garden waste - Frequently Asked Questions

The annual charge for our 2025/26 service is £52 per green or brown lidded bin.

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The charge for the garden waste service is determined through our budget setting process. The charge for 2025/26 has increased more than anticipated to ensure that the service is self-financing moving forward - it will not be reliant on the public subsidising the service through council tax. We strive to deliver a good, convenient service that offers value for money.

The annual charge for the service is £52, the equivalent of £1 per week - for fortnightly collections running from 1 April 2025, to the end of March 2026, with collections only suspended for two weeks over Christmas. The charge for 2024/25 worked out at 70p a week for a 50-week service with 25 collections. This year (2025/26) the charge equates to £1 a week, just a 30p increase.

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Residents will receive confirmation of payment, followed by the garden waste permit, which will be delivered within 10 working days from the date of purchase.

Please note: New permits will be delivered within 10 working days

Residents are asked to attach the permit to their green or brown lidded bin. Only bins with visible permits will be collected by our crews. Those who have reusable bags are advised to keep hold of their new permit.

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You can sign up to our Household garden waste service using MyDudley:

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345 where a colleague will set up the subscription on your behalf.

Whether paying online or by calling Dudley Council Plus, a valid debit or credit card will be required. A one-off payment of £52 will be taken for the year.

Please note: It may take up to 24 hours for your subscription to display in MyRequests

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Yes, you can subscribe and pay for another property such as a relative or friend. When signing up you will be asked if you are doing so on behalf of someone else. The permit will be delivered within 10 working days from the date of purchase and will be delivered to the address stated.

Please note: To purchase a permit online on behalf of someone else, you must live in the borough and have a MyDudley account. You can still purchase a permit on behalf of someone else if you live outside of Dudley Borough, by calling Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345.

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Yes, residents can share a bin with a neighbour. The bin will only be charged to one resident and collected from that property.

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The household garden waste collection runs for 50 weeks from 1 April 2025 to March 2026, pausing for two weeks over the festive and New Year period. You can subscribe to the service at any time at a cost of £52.

The service will begin from the next collection date following receipt of your permit and will continue until March 2026.

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When you pay to receive a household garden waste collection, you will be sent a permit to place on your bin. This will identify that you have paid for the year ahead. Crews will also have the information inside their cabs to identify who has paid.

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If you haven’t received a permit within 10 working days from the date of purchase, please contact us by calling Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345.

If your bin has been presented for collection without a visible permit and has not been collected by our crew, please contact us

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345

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A missed collection can be reported after 3pm on the day of collection and until 5pm the following day unless it is assisted. If you are expecting an assisted collection and this hasn't happened, please contact us.

We will arrange for reported collections to be picked up within seven working days of notification (usually when we are back in the area to prevent unnecessary vehicle emissions).

To avoid future missed collections, please ensure that your green or brown-lidded bin(s) are placed at the boundary to your property by 6am on your collection day.

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345

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No, the current service period ends in March 2026. Those who have signed up to receive the service will receive an email reminder (if an email address is provided) before the service expires, which will aid as a prompt to subscribe for the 2026-27 service without any missed collections.

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The service is for residents who choose to subscribe. If you do not subscribe and make the payment, your household garden waste will not be collected, and there will be no charge to you. Therefore, if you do not have a garden or do not want to pay for the collections, you do not need to do anything.

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We do not intend to collect unwanted bins and instead ask that residents continue to store the bin on their property. The bin will then be available should the resident decide to purchase the service at a later date.

Please note: Any requests for a replacement wheeled bin will be chargeable, regardless of whether the bin has been lost, stolen or removed at the request of the resident.

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There are no concessions available.

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Yes, the bin for household garden waste will be collected from wherever your grey refuse wheelie bin is currently collected.

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We do not make any money from the disposal of the compost. We incur costs for haulage and the processing of garden waste.

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Council tax pays for the removal of general refuse as a statutory service. The household garden waste service is a non-statutory service. Introducing a charge for garden waste collection ensures that we only provide the service to those who require it. This means that garden waste removal will not contribute to any future council tax increases.

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It is not illegal – but we would advise against it due to air pollution and consideration for neighbours and other residents.

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No. Garden waste is currently processed via Open Air Windrow, which does not allow for the inclusion of food waste, which includes fruit from trees. If your bin contains food waste, it will not be emptied until the food waste has been removed.

We will be introducing food waste collections to all residential properties from 1 April 2026. More information will be made available in due course.

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No. Up to 100% of the waste in the grey bin is taken to an energy-from-waste facility, which cannot accept garden waste. We will not empty your black bin if it contains garden waste.

Collection crews will monitor bins for garden waste, and we will conduct thorough checks if evidence shows previous contamination.

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Yes, properties are able to have more than one garden waste bin, as long as there is suitable storage and a suitable collection point.

You will need to pay the £52 annual charge for the collection of each additional bin and any additional bins (the unit itself) will need to be purchased at a cost of £37.50 each.

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If you decide to cancel the service, you will be entitled to a full refund if you have not yet received a garden waste collection from your property and are within the 14-day cooling-off period. Please visit the MyRequests tab in MyDudley if you wish to cancel.

Please note: The 14-day cooling-off period starts from the date you place your order, not on your first collection date.

You may also cancel the service at any time. However, no refunds will be issued after the 14-day cooling-off period.

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345.

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Please do not take your bin with you, it should remain at your original address. The permit is attached to the property, therefore, if you plan to move house, please contact Dudley Council Plus as soon as possible, where a replacement permit will be processed (with the same expiry date as the original).

If there is no green or brown-lidded bin at your new property, you can order a new one

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345.

There is no administration charge for transferring a permit to your new address, but new bins are charged at the standard rate.

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If you are moving to an address outside Dudley Borough, we encourage you to cancel your existing service by visiting MyDudley or by calling Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345. There will be no refund due, but this will support us in reducing wasted resources and our environmental impact.

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You can use the green bin for your garden waste collections once you have contacted us. Please request a permit transfer from your previous address if you are moving within the borough and have previously paid for garden waste collections.

If you have moved from out of the borough or not previously paid for garden waste collections, then you will need to register for the service using MyDudley.

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council plus on 0300 555 2345.

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Yes, you can still subscribe to the service and the cost is the same. The permit does not need to be attached to the bags, but please keep it just in case there is an issue at any point.

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No, you can only have bags if, following an assessment, it is unsafe for a wheeled bin to be collected from your property.

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You can report damaged bins using MyDudley

If you are unable to access MyDudley, please call Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345 where a replacement will be arranged.

Please note: If you have damaged your bin, you may be liable for the cost of a replacement. This charge also applies to damage due to general day-to-day wear and tear.

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The service is available to residential properties only.

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This is an excellent alternative to paying for a collection or taking garden waste to your local household waste recycling centre. You will also produce great compost to use at home. Composters are available to purchase at Dudley Recycles

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Yes. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Controlled Waste Regulations (England and Wales) 2012, councils can charge for a garden waste collection service. Charging to collect garden waste will bring us in line with many neighbouring councils that already provide a paid for service.

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