Changes are being made to the garden waste collection service provided by West Lancashire Borough Council to help residents and the environment.

Existing customers who sign up and pay for the garden waste service this year will receive a free brown bin if they subscribe before 4 June 2018. If you purchased extra garden waste bins last year you will receive the equivalent number of brown bins free of charge. If you subscribe after 4 June you will have to pay for the bins at a cost of £25 each. Residents who sign up for the first time this year will also need to purchase a new brown bin.

The existing green bins will then be used by all residents to recycle cardboard and paper, replacing the current blue bag system. This will make the system easier for residents and help the environment as materials will be recycled in larger quantities as well as keeping our streets cleaner and helping to make collection rounds more efficient.

Residents who are not currently signed up for the Garden Waste Collection Services and therefore do not have a green bin will receive one for cardboard and paper recycling, free of charge if they request one before 4 June 2018.

Residents living in West Lancashire who signed up to the garden waste collection service last year can enjoy the benefits of garden waste collections until 3 June 2018.

To continue receiving the service after this date, residents must sign up for a further 12 months, and you can do this quickly and easily online from Monday 12 March by visiting www.westlancs.gov.uk/gardenwaste. Residents will not be able to subscribe by phone until 2 May; to avoid any interruption to the service you must sign up before 18 May 2018.

More information on the green bin switch will be provided at a later date.

The cost of the Garden Waste Collection Service is also being fixed at £30 per year for one brown bin to be emptied. You can have additional brown bins emptied at a cost of £25 each. The £30 charge covers the 12 months from 4 June 2018 to 3 June 2019. If you sign up part way through the year, the cost is the same and no concessions are available.

Councillor Kev Wilkie, portfolio holder for Street Scene Services, said: "The overall response from residents to the introduction of the Council's chargeable Garden Waste Collection Service last year was very positive with around 50% of households signing up to this valuable service.

"The scheme for this year will be launched on 12 March and we are encouraging residents to sign up quickly and easily online. The introduction of a new brown bin to collect garden waste and the use of the green bin for paper and cardboard are positive steps to improving our recycling services for the future."

Residents requiring additional bins to those purchased last year can buy them from the Council at a cost of £25 each. You can buy brown bins online at the same time when you sign up and pay for the collection service.

A leaflet will be included inside this year's Council Tax information delivered to every household in the Borough giving details about how to sign up and pay, and further information on the service. Information is also available on the Council website www.westlancs.gov.uk/gardenwaste.

Residents who don’t use the service will still be able to dispose of garden waste at the household waste recycling centres, or compost it.

Am I right in thinking that this only applies to West Lancs and NOT the Merseyside waste collection service?

Thought this was QLocal SOUTHPORT.

Originally Posted by Little Londoner

Thought this was QLocal SOUTHPORT.

It is, but places like Moss Road and New Cut Lane have their bins emptied by West Lancs despite being in Southport