Cheshire East Council, the organisation behind bin collection in Congleton, has reopened registration for their garden waste removal scheme.

In January, Cheshire East joined a scheme being adopted across the country where you have to pay £56 per year to get garden waste like soil and plant trimmings taken away.

In June, it was revealed that over 60 per cent of the borough's residents signed up.

And subscriptions to renew or sign up for the first time to Cheshire East Council's Garden Waste Recycling Scheme reopened today.

Residents will need to opt-in to the scheme to use their garden bin to recycle their green waste and will pay an annual subscription fee for their bin to be collected.

If you are already signed up to the council's Garden Waste Recycling Scheme, you will need to renew your subscription. Subscriptions are £59 per garden bin per year, (up £3 from the initial wave of sign ups).

However, a 25 per cent reduction in the fee is on offer for those receiving qualifying benefits.

Nub has contacted CEC for the reason on this £3 price rise, for the service only launched ten months ago.

Once subscribed, residents will be sent a welcome pack containing their subscription sticker, which will have their address and unique subscription number on it.

Residents are urged to attach the new coloured sticker to the back of their garden bin (handle side) as soon as they receive it – but not obscuring any current subscription sticker – as garden bins without a valid sticker displaying will not be emptied.

Providing that their email address is still the same, residents who subscribed to the service last year will receive a reminder email, enabling them to simply click the link to renew. 

The idea of paid green bin collections were rubbished by Macc Nub when the idea was floated last year.

But with around two-thirds of the borough's households signed up, and a push from Cheshire East to get more, it would be hard to call the high subscription rates 'rubbish'.

Cheshire East Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, said: "We had nearly 100,000 subscribers to our garden waste collections last year and I'm confident that they will want to renew, with more residents choosing to join the scheme as well. 

"I would like to thank everyone who has already signed up and remind them that they will need to renew their subscription to continue to enjoy an unbroken service. I'd recommend doing it now to enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that it's all in hand. 

"At the new price it still represents excellent value and I hope that residents understand that the very slight increase is needed to help the council address the gap in its finances." 

However, it is unclear of the collection frequency of the scheme would be affected by Cheshire East's potential changes to the schedule of bin collection, as reported by Nub News. So bear that in mind when signing up.

To join the garden waste subscription scheme or to renew your current subscription, please visit: Garden bin subscription (cheshireeast.gov.uk)

Residents not able to sign up online can contact the council on 0300 123 5011.