Green bins set for a whopping 25% increase

It will cost you a lot more money to use Powys County Council’s green bin service which restarts for 2024 in a couple of weeks.

The bills have been dropping through the letterboxes this week and show that a 25% increase has been made, taking the cost of having one of the large bins to £50, up from £40 last year, and well up from its £30 introduction just five years ago.

Readers bombarded us with complaints which we put to the county council, and they issued the following response.

Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys, said: “The 2024 subscription has seen a bigger price increase than in previous years due to the difficult financial decisions the council is currently facing to balance the budget.

“We appreciate that price increases are never welcome. However, they are necessary to allow us to continue to offer this kerbside collection to our residents whilst also protecting the core service provision of the council.

“The £50 annual charge is in line with several other authorities who provide this service and does cover 20 collections throughout the year. When the inconvenience of transporting green waste to a Household Waste Recycling Centre along with fuel costs are taken into account, the service does still provide value for money to residents.

“The 2024 price is based on the increase being approved by Full Council on February 22 but with the garden season soon to be underway, we did not want to delay starting collections whilst we waited for a final decision.

“Should it not be approved, subscribers who have already signed up to the service will be refunded the difference.”