Garden Waste Service

You can dispose of most plant-based materials, including:

• Garden weeds
• Hedge trimmings
• Small twigs and branches less than 7.5cm (3”) diameter
• Grass cuttings
• Flowers and plants
• Leaves

Please do not dispose of these items in your garden waste. These items can contaminate the collection process:

• Soil
• Food waste
• Pet waste
• Large branches
• Stones or rubble
• Paper
• Wood
• Plastic

Any bin contaminated with material other than green garden waste will not be emptied. Bins that are too heavy for safe handling will also not be emptied.

You can take larger branches and unsuitable materials to a Kent County Council Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) for proper disposal or recycling.

Throwing your garden waste into your general waste bin is bad for the environment. It creates methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas.

Please do not dispose of your garden waste in your general waste bin.

Garden Waste Collection Charges (2026/27)

• Annual subscription: £73 per year
• Bin hire (one-off): £44 per bin
• Additional bin: £36.50

Why we charge for this service

With limited government funding and capped council tax, we need to charge for discretionary services like garden waste collection to cover our operating costs. Relying on service fees helps us balance our budget and continue delivering essential services across the district, while always carefully considering the impact on our residents.

The set up fee covers setting up your account, checking your bin is ok to be used and administration of setting up your collection.

Our in cab system means we can now digitally identify which addresses have subscribed to the service and therefore stickers and tags are no longer required.

New customers

Example: Select the total number of bin subscriptions you require, each bin with incur a one-off set up fee.

Existing Customers

Example 1: if you have 1 bin subscription and want to continue with 1 then you select 1 new subscription. This will charge 1 x yearly subscription.

Example 2: If you have 1 bin subscription and want 2 for this year then you need to select 2 new subscriptions. This will charge you for 2 x collection subscriptions and 1 x bin set up fee.

The garden waste scheme runs from 1 April to 31 March with a 4 week break over the christmas period. The subscription costs is annual and there is no reduction for joining part way through the year.

Subscriptions are paid annually and therefore we are unable to offer any refunds for cancellations part way through the year.

If you move please complete the change of address form. 

Your garden waste will be collected once every two weeks throughout the year, apart from a few weeks over Christmas and New Year. View and download the garden waste collection calendar via our website.

If you are already subscribed, you can login to the Waste Services portal to check your collection day.

Log in to the waste services portal to view the status of your collection. If there is a reason we have been unable to to empty your bin you will see this information on the date of your collection for example:

• Bin  not presented – this means that your bin was not presented by 6am on the day of your collection
• Non-permitted items – this means there were items in your bin that are not permitted for collection as part of this service. 

If your property has a status of bin not presented or non permitted items we will not be able to return to your property until your next scheduled collection. 

You will need to bring your bin back onto your property.

There are alternative disposal options such as the household waste and recycling centres on Manston Road, Margate or Sandwich Road, Richborough. 

If your collection is showing as completed but your bin has not been emptied you can click on the dropdown to report this as a missed collection.

Yes you can have upto five garden waste bins, however you will need to pay for each additional bin and for each bin to be collected.

During hard frosts, garden waste can sometimes become frozen inside your bin, making the bins difficult to empty without the risk of damaging them. This may mean that your garden waste will need to stay in your bin until your next scheduled collection. If your bin is damaged or broken in the course of us trying to empty it, please report it online at wasteservices.thanet.gov.uk, and we will replace it free of charge.