Garden waste subscription FAQs

Once you're subscribed, we'll collect your garden waste every 2 weeks during the collection season (April to November).

You can check when your bins are due to be collected on the bin collection dates page.

It can take up to 2 weeks for your garden waste collection dates to appear on your calendar.

If you're not subscribed, we will not collect your garden waste and you'll need to get rid of it yourself.

You'll be able to see your collection day on your bin calendar once you've subscribed. It can take up to 2 weeks for this to happen.

Your collection day might be a different day to when your other bins are emptied.

You'll still need to put your bin out by 7am on your collection day.

Once you've subscribed, we'll also provide you with a sticker which includes a permit reference. You must attach the sticker clearly to your brown bin.

You can sign up for free reminders about when to put your bins out.

Once you've signed up, we'll send you an email letting you know which bin to put out.

You can sign up on the bin collection dates page. Search for your address, and click the 'Get a reminder!' button. You can choose when you'd like the reminder to be sent.

You can click the 'Get a calendar' button to either print out a copy of your calendar, or download your bin collection dates into your phone's calendar.

Yes, you can take your bin with you and transfer your subscription, as long as you're moving to somewhere which is still in Middlesbrough.

But you must let us know, so we can update our system and make sure your bin is collected from your new address.

First update your address on MyMiddlesbrough, then fill in the moving house form.

If you want to cancel your garden waste subscription, you can use the unsubscribe form.

Once you've unsubscribed, we'll remove your address from our collection schedule and we will not collect your garden waste.

We will not take your brown bin away. You'll be able to keep it in case you subscribe for collections again in the future.

If you cancel your subscription within 14 days of signing up for the garden waste service, and your bin has not been delivered yet, you may be entitled to a refund.

If you cancel your subscription after your bin has already been delivered, you cannot get a refund.

If you'd like us to take away your old green bin, you can use the xxx form.

You do not need to do anything. This is an opt-in (subscription) service.

If you do not subscribe to the garden waste collection service, we will not collect your garden waste.

If you're not subscribed, you're responsible for legally getting rid of your garden waste.

You can either compost it yourself, or you can take it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre. Don't forget, you need to book an appointment at the Household Waste Recycling Centre before you go.

Please do not put garden waste in your black rubbish bin.

If you're not subscribed to garden waste collections, you're responsible for legally getting rid of your garden waste.

You can either compost it yourself, or you can take it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre. Don't forget, you need to book an appointment at the Household Waste Recycling Centre before you go.

Please do not put garden waste in your black rubbish bin.

You may be eligible for an assisted collection if you can prove that you have a medical condition or disability which stops you from moving your bin.

You may also be eligible if you're an older person and you find it difficult or impossible to move your bin.

Find out more about getting help with putting your bin out.

Garden waste collections cost £40 per year for one bin.

If you have more than one brown bin, you'll pay an extra £20 per year for each bin. The maximum number of bins allowed per household is 5.

If you're getting Council Tax Reduction, you can sign up for a payment plan to spread the cost. You'll pay for your garden waste subscription in four monthly payments of £10.

Payment plans are available for residents who get Council Tax Reduction.

You'll be able to pay the £40 subscription cost in £10 instalments over 4 months.

Find out more about payment plans.

Once you've subscribed, you'll automatically be added to the system our waste collection crews use.

We'll also send you a sticker which includes a permit reference. You must attach the sticker clearly to your brown bin.

If you've subscribed to get more than one bin emptied, we'll send you a sticker for each bin.

You can check the 'My Requests' section on MyMiddlesbrough to find out if you have a subscription for 2025.

Yes, you can subscribe any time during the year, but the cost is the same no matter when you sign up.

If you subscribe part way through the year, you'll only get the amount of collections left in the year, but you'll still pay the full amount.

No, all households pay the same amount, regardless of personal circumstances.

This includes people who subscribe part way through the year - you'll only get the amount of collections left in the year, but you'll still pay £40.

If you're getting Council Tax Reduction, you can sign up for a payment plan to spread the cost. You'll pay for your garden waste subscription in four monthly payments of £10.

If you cancel your subscription after your bin has already been delivered, you cannot get a refund.

If you cancel your subscription within 14 days of signing up, and your bin has not been delivered yet, you may be entitled to a refund.

You can cancel your subscription quickly and easily online.

It can take up to 21 working days to receive your new bin and permit sticker. They will be delivered separately.

If your bin or sticker have not arrived after 21 working days, contact us using the xxx form and we'll look into it.

Lost or stolen

If your bin has been lost or stolen, you'll need to pay for a new one. You can request a replacement bin online. Replacement brown bins cost £37.50.

Damaged by a bin lorry

If your bin falls into a bin lorry and is damaged beyond repair, we'll replace it for free.

We'll put a card through your front door to let you know. The card will include a reference number, and you'll need to give that reference number when you contact us.

You can request a replacement bin online.

If you put your brown bin out and it does not get emptied, you can report a missed collection online.

To get your garden waste collected:

• you must have a garden waste subscription for 2025 - check the 'My Requests' section on MyMiddlesbrough to find out
• your subscription sticker must be attached to your brown garden waste bin
• the bin lid must be closed and the bin must not be overflowing
• the bin must be presented at the kerbside of your property by 7am on your collection day

We're putting on two extra collections in March 2025 free of charge to reimburse residents who missed collections in 2024.

All residents who subscribed in 2024 will get these extra collections. Check your bin calendar to find out when yours will be.

This is a temporary issue due to the bins being stacked before delivery. The problem will fix itself over the next few weeks.

If you no longer need your brown bin and want us to take it away, fill in the xxx form and we'll collect your bin.

During the winter, there is less growth so less garden waste is produced.

The environmental benefit of collecting such small amounts of garden waste in the winter would be outweighed by the fuel used by our bin wagons.

If you do have garden waste during the winter, you can put it in your brown bin until collections start again in spring.

We send garden waste to external garden waste composters. They turn the garden waste into compost using a process called 'open windrow composting'.

Open windrow composting is used for processing garden waste, like grass cuttings, pruning, and leaves, in either an open air environment or in large covered areas where the material can break down in the presence of oxygen.

Once composted, the material can then be sold. The compost can be used to improve soil via blending, and for land remediation, with uses in agriculture and landscaping.

Garden bonfires are not illegal, even in a smoke control area. But there are laws if the smoke from the bonfires causes a nuisance to neighbours.

Garden waste can be wet and damp, which will create a lot of smoke. This can be difficult to control when you have neighbours close by.

We're likely to receive complaints if you burn garden waste, so we recommend you do not do it.