Cardiff Council is announcing a major change in its waste management services – the resumption of fortnightly garden waste collections will now be year-round.
Garden waste collections across the city began again this week following the winter break, but now residents will be able to have their garden waste collected every fortnight for 50 weeks of the year. That’s 25 garden waste collections a year – up from 18 a year.
The service will pause for two weeks over Christmas to redirect resources and manage the increased amount of recycling caused by the festive season.
Councillor Norma Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste, Street Scene & Environmental Services, said she was delighted to be able to extend the service: “We are investing in these services after listening to feedback from our residents. They asked and we are delivering for them. The improved budget settlement received from Welsh Government has enabled us to do this, and I’m really happy that we can make these changes. This will help residents with leaf clearance – which is becoming more variable each year due to climate change – and it will also help those green-fingered enthusiasts who are seeing their gardens go on for longer in the autumn and then start up earlier in the spring.
“Our hope is that this will support gardening enthusiasts and improve garden waste recycling at the same time. Cardiff is one of the best recycling cities in the world and garden waste collections help the city reach its recycling targets, but it’s important residents use the service in the right way, recycling only the correct materials. To keep our compost high quality, I ask everyone to only put organic garden waste in their bins. Please remove any non-garden waste items before collection and help us push Cardiff even higher up the recycling charts.”
Residents are also reminded that any extra waste left next to containers won’t be collected. Please follow these guidelines to help the council ensure a smooth and efficient collection process.
Accepted garden waste items include:
- ✔️ Leaves
- ✔️ Grass cuttings
- ✔️ Plant/flower cuttings
- ✔️ Small twigs/branches
- ✔️ Bedding from non-meat-eating animals (e.g., hay, straw, wood shavings from guinea pigs and rabbits)
- ✔️ Real Christmas trees, cut up and placed in the bin or sack
Items that cannot be accepted:
- ❌ Compost/soil
- ❌ Rubble/decorative stones
- ❌ Garden items (e.g., watering cans, gnomes, plant pots)
- ❌ Wood (treated or untreated)
- ❌ Green recycling bags
- ❌ General waste
