Sign up to the garden waste scheme, or let us know if you don’t want your bin

You can still sign-up to the Garden Waste Subscription Scheme, if your household is eligible.

The easiest way to sign up for the scheme is to complete an online form at www.york.gov.uk/GardenWaste

Support is available for anyone who is not able to apply this way by calling 01904 551 551.

You can subscribe until 31 October 2025, as the season will end at the beginning of December. Subscriptions for 2026 will reopen in January.

If households don’t want to subscribe to the Garden Waste Subscription Scheme in 2025 or in future years, then City of York Council would like to know.

The council will be taking back garden waste bins (green bins) that residents no longer want/need at the end of the 2025 garden waste season. This will be a one-time only offer and crews will only collect empty garden waste bins.

Households will need to complete this short form https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Greenbinstakeback by Sunday 5 October to register for the collection of their bin.

Once you’ve completed the form there’s no need to contact our customer service team. We’ll be in touch in the Autumn, before we collect your bin at the end of the season in December.

The free one-off collection of empty garden waste bins will be undertaken for those households not subscribing to the garden waste service scheme in future.

If you don’t want to subscribe to the Garden Waste Subscription Scheme in 2025, you can keep your bin and reuse it in a number of ways including storage, to make a waterbutts or as a compost bin, just like Alan from Haxby has.

Alan, from Haxby said: “I decided to convert my old green garden waste bin myself into a composter as the bins were better quality than the black composters, they were easier to access, easy to transform with just some hinges and a bolt and you can move them around your garden too. I’ve now converted three green bins into composters which are fantastic, and I’d definitely recommend others doing the same.”

For further information about the Garden Waste Subscription Scheme please visit the website, or stay up to date with the latest waste information and news by subscribing to the waste e-newsletter at: www.york.gov.uk/EmailUpdates

There are alternative options available to dispose of garden waste; garden waste can be composted at home or can be taken, free of charge, to the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) at Hazel Court and Towthorpe. The council has discounted home composters available to buy for £15 from HWRCs.