Garden waste collection service terms and conditions
1 The Garden Waste Collection Service
In this agreement ‘you’ or ‘your’ means the person(s) who join the collection service. You have agreed to pay West Lancashire Borough Council, or any contractor it may choose to engage (referred to as ‘us’, ‘our’, ‘we’, the council’) a subscription for collecting garden waste on the following terms.
2 Term
The garden waste collection scheme runs annually from 1 June and expires 31 May the following year.
Collections take place fortnightly between 1 June until 30 November and resumes again on 1 March until 31 May.
Scheduled collection days may change due to Bank or Public Holidays.
The council reserves the right to cancel collection without notice.
3 Subscription
A garden waste service subscription fee is payable annually up front for each bin. The full annual fee is payable if you join at any time after 1st June.
The subscription charge for the period 1st June 2026 to 31st May 2027 is £47.50 for each If you subscribe for more than one bin, it will cost £47.50 for the year for each additional bin to be collected.
There is a one-off charge for each brown 240L bin of £25. If a bin is lost or stolen, a replacement bin will need to be purchased from the council. You can only use brown bins purchased from the council. We will not empty any other type of containers.
There are no discounts, concessions or part-year adjustments available for this service. It is your responsibility to arrange payment yearly.
You can pay for the service by recurring annual direct debit, by debit or credit card via the council’s website or by telephoning 01695 In exceptional circumstances an alternative payment method may be considered.
If you choose to pay by direct debit, this will be on an annual recurring basis until you choose to cancel.
Please note that if your bank details change you will need to transfer your direct debit to ensure your annual subscription can continue to be collected by direct debit and your collections remain uninterrupted.
The council will review the charge for this service annually and will publish intended changes to subscriptions on its website.
4 Cancellations and direct debit cancellations
In line with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation & Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, you have 14 days from receipt of these Terms and Conditions to request cancellation of this service. On cancellation we will reimburse all payments received from you within 14 days. Requests to cancel the service should be made by calling 01695 577177 or by using the online contact form at https://www.westlancs.gov.uk/garden-waste-collections or using your West Lancs Self Service Account https://portal.westlancs.gov.uk/selfserve
If you cancel a Direct Debit because you no longer wish to receive the service in the subsequent year, please contact your bank to cancel the payment for the following year. In the event of any failed payment, the service will be withdrawn. No refunds will be given for part-year or unexpired annual subscription periods.
5 Moving to a new address
The bin must be left at the property you are moving from. Payment for the garden waste service relates to the property and is not transferrable. If you move to another property in West Lancashire where no payment has been made you will have to sign up and pay at your new address if you want to receive the service.
If you pay by direct debit you will need to cancel your existing direct debit and set up a new direct debit when you re-subscribe at your new address.
6 Standard of Service
The council will only empty bins that are supplied by the council and at a frequency of once per fortnight on the specified collection day.
On each scheduled collection day, your bin must be presented at the boundary of your property, where it meets the public highway, by 07:00.
The council has the right to refuse to empty the bin if contaminated or not presented in accordance with procedure.
Bins that are overflowing or too heavy for the crew to safely handle will not be collected. Operatives must be able to maneuver all containers with due regard to health and safety.
The council may suspend collections for circumstances outside of the council’s control. The council will publish and update its collection requirements on its website which you must comply with.
The council reserves the right to make reasonable changes to the council’s operational bin collection arrangements or the frequency of or days of bin collection. If the council makes changes, it will publicise details via the council’s website and/or via social media.
Only one attempt will be made to empty your brown bin(s); any waste remaining/stuck in your brown bin(s) will be left. This may be due to the waste being frozen or over-compacted. It will then be your responsibility to ensure this material is freed up for the next scheduled collection day.
The bin lid must be fully closed. No side waste will be collected.
You may only place garden waste in this bin including:
- Grass cuttings
- Hedge clippings
- Small branches (up to 10cm diameter)
- Twigs
- Bark
- Leaves
- Flowers
- Plants
- Fallen fruit
The following items must not be placed in your bin:
- Food waste (excluding windfall fruit)
- Plastic
- Compostable packaging e.g. bags, cups
- Large branches (over 10cm diameter)
- Turf
- Stones and rubble
- Soil
- Pet bedding
- Invasive weeds (such as Japanese Knotweed or Himalayan Balsam) or Green Waste with signs of Ash Dieback Disease
Contaminated bins will not be collected. You will need to remove any contamination before collection resumes
7 Bin Labelling
To ensure that your collection continues without any problems, please ensure that you write your house number in the white square on the front of your bin. This will enable the collection staff to identify your bin and cross reference it with the computer records on board the collection vehicle to validate your subscription.
8 Assisted Collection Service
Assisted collections are available depending upon your circumstances. Visit the website www.westlancs.gov.uk/refuse-recycling for further information and to apply.
If you already receive an assisted waste collection this will automatically be applied when you subscribe.
9 Missed Bins
You should not report your bin(s) as having been missed until the following day as collections can be made up until 5pm.
On any occasion when the Council will not be able to collect the bin(s) due to circumstances which are outside the control of the collection crew (e.g. road works, no access to roads, severe weather conditions etc.) The crew will endeavor to return within two working days to complete the collection.
If a bin is presented correctly and subsequently missed by the collection crew, we will return to collect it within two working days once it has been reported to us.
Where green waste has not been presented correctly and/or on time, we will not be able to return to collect it until your next scheduled collection.
10 Cancellation of this Agreement
The council shall be entitled to cancel this agreement immediately if you breach the terms of this agreement. If the council cancels the agreement because the terms have been broken, you may only re-join the service if the council agrees, and a new subscription charge would apply. The council reserves the right to end the service as a whole at the end of a subscription period.
11 Statutory Requirements
The council considers that its garden waste collection arrangements are reasonable and will ensure that your garden waste is collected lawfully. No person other than the subscriber may enforce this agreement against the council. These terms do not affect your statutory rights.
12 How Information about you will be used
The council does comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679 and is committed to protecting any personal data you provide the council in connection with the service (‘data’). Any data will only be used for (a) processing your subscription (b) informing you about the garden waste collection service or other services the council provides (c) preventing or detecting fraud and other lawful purposes (d) performing any statutory enforcement action or (e) in anonymised form for analysis purposes to improve performance. The council may disclose data as required by law or to competent authorities responsible for detecting or preventing fraud or auditing or administering public funds or to any contractor who the council appoint to perform the garden waste collection service provided the contractor is under the same obligation to protect data.
Information on how we handle and protect your data including our Corporate Privacy Policy can be found here.
End of Terms and Conditions
