Angus Council admits it can’t legally stop people disposing of garden waste in their rubbish bin to avoid paying a £25 charge.
From November 28 the local authority will begin the process of collecting garden waste bins from households that no longer require them.
Green bins will only be uplifted if they are empty.
Residents have been told they can use their purple bin to empty any green waste “on this occasion”.
But the council stressed this should be done “as a last resort” – despite the fact that some are already doing this rather than paying a subscription.
A £25 annual charge was brought in earlier this year as part of a major shake-up of recycling services in a bid to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds for the cash-strapped authority.
A council spokesperson told residents: “We do not encourage people to put green waste into the purple bin but are aware some residents may do this.
“In effect we can not at this stage legally prevent it.
“Our preference is however to see this recycled.
“If residents do choose to put garden waste in the purple bin, this will however mean they have nowhere to put their household waste and our bin size is already reduced so it is a choice.
“To date we have seen 90% of the previous level/tonnage of garden waste collected continue to be collected by us.
“The remaining 10% is either composted at home or brought to recycling centres or put in the purple bin.
“Those levels of recycling rates are greater than indications from English authorities.
“Our take up of the service has also been way beyond the initial take up of English authorities, many of whom take up to three years to reach our participation levels.
“The decision to offer a choice to pay for a service or simply stop it has enabled customers to make an active choice, many, over 20,000 have done so and in the process we have saved 25 jobs, many at the lower paid end of our pay scales.
“So far we have seen a tremendously positive response from the people of Angus.”
The council said the response has managed demand, saved jobs and maintained recycling opportunities and rates.
It has also meant half-a-million pounds has not needed to be taken away from other statutory services such as education or older people’s services.
