Garden waste collection - Frequently asked questions

Sign-ups for garden waste collections will open on Thursday 30 January 2025 and will close on Monday 30 June 2025.

The quickest and easiest way is to sign up online, either by an annual Direct Debit, or as a one-off payment. If you sign up online before 1 April 2025 or by online Direct Debit before 28 February 2025 you qualify for a £5 discount. You can also pay over the telephone by calling 023 8083 3005 however no discount will be applied to telephone payments.

New customers signing up will receive a standard 240 litre bin. The 240 litre bin is the same size as your standard general waste bin. Existing customers who already have a 140 litre or 360 litre bin can retain these. We also have sacks available at qualifying properties only.

We take:

• Grass cuttings
• Plant clippings and prunings, including those from hedges and shrubs
• Plants, cut flowers, and weeds
• Fallen fruit (windfalls)
• Leaves, twigs and bark
• Branches up to 7.5 centimetres in diameter

We cannot take:

• Plastic or waste in plastic bags
• Food or kitchen waste
• Soil or turf
• Ash
• Stones or rubble
• Fence posts, panels, or timber
• Animal waste or bedding

We aim to deliver bins to new customers within five working days, however in February and March in the lead up to the new collection year please allow up to 20 working days.

There may also be a delay in the delivery of garden waste bins if we run out of stock. Should this occur the sign-up page on our website will be updated to make customers aware of the new expected delivery timescale.

For the 2025-26 collection year sign ups for garden waste collections open on 30 January 2025. Residents subscribing via direct debit or online by card before 31 March 2025 will receive a £5 early bird discount.

The last day to subscribe to the service will be 30 June 2025.

Please note that regardless of the date you subscribe, the service will only run until 31 March 2026. No discounts or reductions will be offered to those subscribing part way through the year.

The cost of a standard size, 240 litre bin is £66.

A 140 litre bin is £63 and a 360 litre bin is £92.50. These sizes are only available to existing customers who already have these bins and wish to renew.

We also offer sacks for £69.50, which are available to qualifying properties only.

There is a £5 discount on any size bin if you sign up online before 1 April 2025 or by online Direct Debit before 28 February 2025.

This is an annual Direct Debit with full payment being taken. This is not a monthly Direct Debit. This is not a monthly Direct Debit. Payment for new and existing customers will be taken one week from 1 April 2025.

No, Direct Debits must be set up online. You can still pay over the phone but you will not be able to set up a Direct Debit and will not qualify for £5 discount.

No further action is required. Your Direct Debit will be taken one week from 1 April 2025. If we hold your email address we will send you a reminder in advance of the renewal date, normally mid-late January.

This will appear as 'SCC Agresso payment'.

If the service is not renewed before 1 April 2025, garden waste will no longer be collected from the property even if the garden waste bin is placed out for collection. If the service is not renewed by 1 May 2025, the bin(s) will be removed from your property. The bin must be accessible from the front of your property so the crew can retrieve the bin.

If you wish to cancel your Direct Debit you will need to do so via your bank.

There are no refunds for the cancellation of the service and the wheeled bin remains the property of Southampton City Council. If you are moving house within the Southampton City Council boundary you can move your bin and subscription with you. Please see the 'Can I keep my bin if I move house?' section for more information. If you are moving out of the city or decide to leave the bin at the property, it can be used by the new occupier until March 2026, when the service will need to be renewed for collections to continue.

In line with the Distance Selling Regulations, customers have seven working days from receipt of the terms and conditions to request cancellation of this service. There are no refunds or part refunds for the cancellation or suspension of the service, part way through the year.

You can find this out by visiting the bin collection calendar and searching for your property by postcode or street name. Bins must be presented at the boundary of the property by 6.30am on the day of collection. Collections will be made between 6.30am and 5pm on the specified collection day.

Your garden waste bin will be collected on a fortnightly basis. You will receive 25 collections over the year (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026). Please note there will be no collections for two weeks following Christmas, the exact dates of which will be confirmed closer to the time. Please visit the bin collection calendar in December to check.

You can report a missed bin to us online. If your bin was missed without reason then we will aim to collect this as soon as we are able.

Yes, existing customers with a 140 or 360 litre bin can change to a 240 litre bin. Customers cannot change their bin to a 140 or 360 litre bin.

For any bin changes, please note there is an administrative charge of £20. This can be taken by credit or debit card. Current customers signed up by Direct Debit who wish to change or add a bin will need to call us on 023 8083 3005.

Yes, you can have a maximum of three bins, provided you have space to store them within your property boundary. Each additional bin is charged at the standard rate.

If you currently have a 140 litre (small) bin that goes missing or is damaged, you will be issued with a replacement 240 litre container and will incur no further charge for collection for the current year. You will be charged at the renewal price for a 240 litre bin for all subsequent years.

If you currently have a 360 litre (large) bin that goes missing or is damaged, you will be issued with two replacement 240 litre containers. You will incur no further charge for collection for the current year. You will be charged at the renewal price for each 240 litre bin for all subsequent years.

Customers who move house within the Southampton City Council area may transfer the service to the new address as long as the bin is transported by the customer.

To notify us of a change of address, you should either:

• Email: garden.waste@southampton.gov.uk 
• Write to us at: Garden Waste Service, City Depot and Recycling Park, First Avenue, Southampton, SO15 0LJ

Where a customer moves outside the city boundary, the wheeled bin must be left at the property.

There are no refunds for the cancellation of the service and the wheeled bin remains the property of Southampton City Council. The bin left at the property may be used by the new occupier until March 2026, when the service will need to be renewed for collections to continue.

Below is a list of all the roads where properties will have bags instead of bins for garden waste collections:

• Bay Close
• Bugle Street
• Canton Street
• Castle Street
• Cranbury Place
• Cranbury Terrace
• Cromwell Road
• Dover Street
• Greywell Avenue
• John Street
• Johns Road
• Latimer Street
• Liverpool Street
• Lyon Street
• Medley Place
• Methuen Street
• Mordaunt Road
• Queens Road
• Rockstone Lane
• Shooters Hill Close
• St James Close
• Yeovil Chase, numbers 46-96

You will receive 50 disposable bags for the year and can put out up to a maximum of four bags per collection.

You will not be able to purchase any additional bags during the year.

Only garden waste wheeled bins or disposable sacks (where applicable) supplied by the council will be emptied. Garden waste presented in any other container will not be collected.

No. You are responsible for the general condition and cleaning of the bin whilst in your possession.

If you need help putting your bin out each week, you may find our assisted collection service can help. This service is offered to people who have a medical condition or disability, live alone, and have no-one in the property or nearby to help do this.

Garden waste taken to Hampshire Household Waste Recycling Centres, or collected from the kerbside, is taken to one of two composting sites: Little Bushy Warren, near Basingstoke or Chilbolton, near Stockbridge. Together the two sites process over 100,000 tonnes of compost material every year.

The green waste is composted in long heaps, called windrows, for 20 weeks and turned so it breaks down evenly. The finished product is ‘Pro-Grow’, a high quality soil improver that is available to buy from the recycling centres or online. For more information visit Pro-Grow's website.

No. As of 2025-26 year we will only be offering subscription to the service for a full year. Residents can sign up to the service until 30 June but no further discounts will be offered.

Yes. If you have a brown lidded bin at the property, please check your bin collection calendar first to make sure the previous resident has not already subscribed for the year. If they have not, and you would still like to join the service, you can sign up at our discretion for the remainder of the subscription year by calling us on 023 8083 3005. Please note that the full cost of the service will need to be paid before the bin is delivered. Your subscription will still expire on 31 March 2026.