Problem
In recent years, Vale of Glamorgan Council has implemented significant improvements to its kerbside recycling collections, earning early recognition as one of the leading areas in Wales for recycling. However, like many local authorities across the UK, the Council faced increasing financial pressures, necessitating innovative approaches to maintain high-quality waste collection services for residents.
A review of its service provisions revealed that a substantial portion of its budget was allocated to garden waste collections, a non-statutory service. Recognising an opportunity to reduce costs while maintaining support for residents, the Council introduced a paid-for garden waste subscription service. This strategic shift aligned with similar initiatives already adopted by other Welsh councils.
Solution
To address budget constraints while ensuring continued access to garden waste collections, Vale of Glamorgan Council launched a paid-for garden waste collections service in 2023. Operating fortnightly from March to November, the service was designed to be affordable, accessible and flexible through:
- Tailored subscription options: A two-tier system allows residents to choose a subscription based on their needs. Households presenting up to eight bags of garden waste per collection qualify for a lower-priced service, ensuring affordability for households generating smaller volumes of waste.
- Flexible service lengths: Recognising diverse resident needs, the Council offers two subscription lengths, including a full-season eight-month service from April to November, and a half-season four-month service option from August to November.
- Ad-hoc winter collections: The Council also provides a garden waste collections service between December and March. Residents with an active garden waste subscription can book collections, as needed, free of charge. This offers further adaptability and value for money for residents.
- User-friendly collections process: The service is designed for ease of use. Residents simply present their garden waste at the kerbside in Council-provided green reusable bags by 7am on their scheduled collection day.
- Innovative internal processes: To ensure the service is reliable and meets subscribers' needs, the collection crews use the what3words addressing system to map the locations of households in rural areas. This ensures all subscribed residents are provided with a regular service, and no garden waste presented for collection is missed.
For residents with smaller quantities of garden waste, the Council actively promotes alternative options, including:
- Reuse and Recycling Centres (RRCs), where garden waste can be dropped off for free; and
- Home composting, with comprehensive guidance available on the Council’s website, including tips to start composting to foster greater sustainability within the community.
Impact
Vale of Glamorgan Council recognised the risks of introducing a chargeable garden waste collections service. Concerns were raised by some Council Members, who feared the change might negatively impact recycling rates or result in insufficient garden waste being collected to meet contractual obligations with reprocessors. Despite these initial worries, the service has proven to be a success, delivering significant financial and operational benefits to the Council.
- In its first year, the garden waste collections subscription was purchased by 12,635 residents, which generated a total income of £262,880 to support the running of the service.
- The Council collected a significant 5,071 tonnes of garden waste in 2022/23 through its garden waste subscription scheme; the addition of 1,145 tonnes collected at RRCs meant the Council was successful in delivering the required tonnage of material to meet its contractual terms.
- Residents who need the service are paying for it, reducing financial burden to the general taxpayer, while maintaining a high-quality collections service.
- Within a year after implementation, the subscription service had saved the Council a comparable full-year saving of over £470,000. The saved funds supported the service through challenges, such as the cost-of-living crisis and issues with driver availability.
The launch of this subscription service highlights Vale of Glamorgan Council's proactive response to budgetary challenges, demonstrating how thoughtful planning and user-focused service design can ensure continued efficiency and sustainability in local waste management.