Garden Waste Chargeable Collection Service FAQs
Please click on the blue bar to read the answer to each frequently asked question.
You may be surprised, but the answer is no. As a local authority we have a duty to collect and dispose of household waste, but there is no legal requirement to collect garden waste. The cost of collecting and disposing of household waste is included in your council tax, but the garden waste collection service was free of charge until April 2019.
We, like many other local authorities across Scotland and the UK, are facing increasing pressure on our budget. With more people accessing our services at the same time as we are receiving less in income and funding, we have had to make tough decisions about where the budget is spent.
Collecting garden waste is not a legal requirement, and since 2019 we have been unable to continue to afford to do it for free. Councillors agreed to introduce a charge for the collection of garden waste in December 2018. Many other councils are already charging for this service, so Moray is not alone in charging this fee. The £50.00 per permit, per bin, per year, charge is expected to generate more than £1,000,000 in this financial year.
Recycling your garden waste is good for the environment and saves money. All green waste collected and processed within Moray is taken to our re-processors who provide two varieties of organic compost for various uses: green and premium. As defined by the British Standards Institution’s Publicly Available Specification 100 (BSI PAS 100), the quality of these composts has been carefully maintained throughout the manufacturing process.
Green compost is a natural product made by mixing, stacking and turning biodegradable materials under managed conditions.
Food-derived, or premium, compost is a natural product made by mixing, stacking and aerating biodegradable materials under strictly controlled conditions in an in-vessel composting system with a separate maturation phase.
Moray is currently the leading local authority across all 32 in Scotland for recycling, with a recycling rate of 57.8% and we need your help to maintain our high performance levels.
The garden waste collection service is optional. If you do not wish to pay to have your garden waste collected from within your brown bin, you can compost it or take it to your local recycling centre for disposal.
If you have extra brown bins that you no longer require, please email waste@moray.gov.uk to arrange for these to be removed.
If you pay a private contractor to undertake gardening work, you can request that they remove the garden waste, but please note that that they must be licensed to do so and they may charge you for this service.
The annual permit charge for 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025 will be £50.00 for each brown bin presented containing garden waste.
There is no maximum number of brown bins per property, provided you pay for a permit for each bin containing garden waste.
The £50.00 charge applies regardless of what point in the year the permit is issued. All permits issued will expire on 31 March 2025.
There is no charge for using a brown bin for food waste only. Brown bins will continue to be emptied on your normal collection day.
There are no concessions or discounts for this service.
Yes. Collection of food waste only in the brown bin is free of charge.
If you put garden waste into the brown bin with your food waste after 1 April 2024 and you do not display a valid permit, your bin will not be emptied.
If this happens, your bin will not be emptied by the collection crew. You will be required to remove the garden waste and present food waste only on the next scheduled collection day to enable the bin to be emptied. Or you can buy a permit, which will enable the garden waste contents to be collected once the permit is displayed on the bin.
The annual garden waste collection charge came into effect on 1 April 2019. Brown bins containing garden waste must display a valid permit or they will not be emptied. Brown bins containing food only will continue to be uplifted for free.
Applications can be submitted from 10 January 2024. In order for you to receive your garden waste collection permit before 1 April 2024, you must apply and pay for it no later than 5 March 2024. Permits will be posted after this date. If you apply for your permit after 5 March, you will receive it after 1 April 2024 so you may miss out on collection(s).
You can apply and pay for your permit online from 10 January 2024 using our online form. Register or log in to myaccount to keep track of all your online requests, and we'll populate your forms with your details to save you re-typing them. Online payments are payable in one transaction of £50.00.
Alternatively if you wish to pay by 2 instalments you’ll need to call our Customer Services Support Team on: 0300 123 4565.
Cash payments cannot be taken.
Yes. You can sign up for the garden waste collection service at any point in the year, but the full charge of £50.00 per permit, per bin is payable no matter when you sign up.
There are no discounts for signing up later in the year and no refunds will be given. Applications may take up to 10 days to process, after this your permit(s) will be posted to you.
Once you have paid for your permit, you will receive it by post. You should write your address on it in the space provided using a permanent marker and then attach it to the back of the brown bin below the handle. You can then present your brown bin for collection on your normal bin collection day.
If you have applied for a garden waste collection permit but have not yet received it in time for the next collection, do not include garden waste in your brown bin. Bins that do not have a valid permit attached but contain garden waste will not be emptied. Brown bins containing food only will be emptied as normal.
We can't speak for every tenant, as it will depend on your tenancy agreement. Council house tenants and those living in military accommodation (eg. SFA/SSFA) are responsible for paying their own permit(s); any other tenants should contact their landlord for clarification.
If you move home, the permit remains with the property, not the person – you cannot take it with you and you will not receive a refund. All bins should be left at the named address. It does not matter if you move within Moray or away from Moray.
If you move to another property within Moray that has a permit, you can continue to use the existing permit until it expires on 31 March 2025. You will then have to re-apply and pay to continue using the service.
If you move to another property within Moray that does not have a permit, you will have to apply for a new one to use the service. The standard charge of £50.00 per bin will apply – there is no discount for applying later in the year.
Yes. The Contribution in Lieu of Council Tax (CILOCT) that you pay each month does not cover additional, chargeable services including this garden waste collection service.
You can dispose of this in your brown bin, but you will require a permit for this, as we are only obliged to uplift food waste for free.
We (nor the owners of any other trees or bushes, etc.) are not obliged to remove leaves, branches, flowers or related green debris from private properties into which they fall or are blown into.
Communal brown bins should be used for food waste only. If you wish to have your own brown bin for garden waste, contact waste@moray.gov.uk.
Yes, you can organise sharing a bin with a neighbour or neighbours. One person must register and pay for the service. Any sharing agreement is a private arrangement and we will not get involved.
In line with our kerbside collection policy, we will only collect bins on the scheduled day. They should be presented for collection no later than 7:30 am. We will not return for a missed bin unless a street or area has been missed due to service problems, for example vehicle breakdown or weather issues. If this happens, you can report the issue here and you should leave your bin out for collection at the kerbside. The waste will be picked up as soon as possible thereafter.
If the bin’s contents are tightly lodged or frozen, it will not be collected. You must ensure that the waste is freed or dislodged before re-presenting the bin on the next scheduled collection day.
Yes. You are free to cancel the service at any time, but you will not receive a refund. To cancel the service, please contact waste@moray.gov.uk.
We have been charging for garden waste collections since 2019 and have not experienced an increase in fly tipping.
Fly-tipping is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping is £500. If offenders do not pay then they may be prosecuted and risk a fine of up to £40,000.
Please store your bin securely between collections, as you are responsible for the contents of your bins. If incorrect material is placed into your bin, you are responsible for removing it and placing it in the correct container.
If you know or suspect that someone is using your bin without permission, we would encourage you to discuss the issue directly with the unauthorised user. For further assistance, contact us through our Customer Service Centre on 0300 123 4565 or by emailing waste@moray.gov.uk.