South Hams Garden Waste Service Restarts

The fortnightly service was reluctantly, and temporarily, suspended in August 2021 due to the severe national driver shortages, which caused issues for all business sectors across the country, to lessen the impacts to the waste, recycling and clinical collections. Since then, a recruitment campaign has managed to recruit more drivers and loaders allowing the garden waste collections to restart.

As usual your garden waste bin will be emptied the opposite week to your grey bin. From the 25 March you can double check when your next collection day will be through the Council’s website.

To make sure as many bins as possible can be emptied quickly and efficiently, please make sure bins are not too heavy for staff to collect safely. There are weight restrictions on the bin lifts and compacted garden waste can become heavy when it starts breaking down.

If a bin is too heavy, it is at risk of being rejected. Therefore, please remove some of the garden waste before collection is due and save this for the next collection date. Only one brown bin will be collected so crews can get around as many properties as possible, as quickly as they possibly can. 

Cllr Keith Baldry, Executive Member for South Hams District Council, said: “I’m delighted to announce that as promised, the garden waste service is restarting this spring. Residents will have this service back at the kerbside at the end of March in time for spring for the gardening season. This will make gardening tasks easier and more enjoyable by having their bin collected from the kerbside.”

“We are reinstating the fortnightly service exactly as it was before, this means that one week your garden waste bin will be emptied and the following week your grey bin will be emptied.  If you are unsure when your first garden waste collection will take place, you will be able to check it on the Council’s website from Friday 25 March”.The Council is asking that residents put their bin out by 7am at their collection points on their scheduled day.

There is also helpful advice and information of what can go into the brown bin, along with some frequently asked questions.

www.southhams.gov.uk/garden-waste-restart

Don’t forget the service will continue as it has in the past with collections of brown bins being made once a fortnight. Information on Garden Waste Collection dates can be found on the Council’s website from Friday 25 March. 

Edit: Contributed