Terms and conditions of the garden waste collection service 2024
This page sets out the terms and conditions under which you, the ‘customer’, may use the garden waste collection service, the ‘service’, provided by us, Liverpool City Council of The Cunard Building, Water Street, Liverpool, L3 1AH, the ‘council’. The service can only be provided to you if you reside at an address for which Council Tax is due to the council.
1. In line with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the customer has 14 days from the day after agreeing to these terms and conditions to request cancellation of the service. You can agree to these terms and conditions online using our website, by phone using our contact centre, or in person at our third party agents such as One Stop Shops. Requests to cancel the service must be in writing to the council’s address above, or by email to gardenwastesubscription@liverpool.gov.uk. Cancellations cannot be accepted over the phone. If you cancel within the 14-day time period, we will repay to you the money you have already paid us for the service.
2. Garden waste collections for the service will only be available to customers who have subscribed for the Service in advance and paid the subscription fee for the service. You will only receive collections if your subscription remains live throughout the relevant subscription period, so if you pay by standing order your payments must continue in order to receive collections. Customer subscriptions are renewable annually each year for the subsequent collection season or ‘subscription period’. The subscription fee you pay only applies for the relevant subscription period and may increase for subsequent subscription periods.
3. It is important that you understand that the subscription fee is single amount for the whole subscription period, which we will use to hire contractors to perform the service. The subscription fee is for the whole subscription period and cannot be divided into individual waste collections or periods of time, and we cannot obtain refunds from our contractor as they will have used our payment to them to purchase resources. Therefore, unless you cancel the service within 14 days after you agree to these terms and conditions, we are unable to make any refunds in respect of the service. This also means that if you subscribe for the service by standing order, you must continue to make payments for the rest of the subscription period, even if you are not using the service.
4. The subscription fee for the service consists of an annual charge for this subscription period of £50. This charge to the customer is for the collection of one garden waste bin, which has been set by the council for the period period February to December.
5. For any additional garden waste subscriptions, the annual charge for this subscription period is as below:
- 2 bins = £93.75
- 3 bins = £125.00
- 4 bins = £156.25
- 5 bins = £187.50
The service will be limited to an overall maximum of 5 bins. A customer is not permitted to use more than 5 garden waste bins under the service. All additional bins are subject to a fee of £25.
6. For the avoidance of doubt, any garden waste bin that is provided to the customer by the council, including any replacement whether charged or provided free under the terms of our Waste Policy, is under an exclusive and revocable licence and any such bin must be used in accordance with these terms and conditions. The customer is not permitted to sub-license and the council shall retain ownership of all its Intellectual Property Rights.
7. The council empties garden waste bins fortnightly between February and December each year and aims to provide 22 collections over the period in which the service operates. There may be occasions when it is not possible to collect the customer’s garden waste bin, including but not limited to: adverse weather conditions, vehicle breakdowns and/or industrial action. If the council misses or cannot collect the customer’s garden waste bin as scheduled, the council will use reasonable endeavours to collect the bin(s) as soon as possible. As we explained, the council cannot give refunds, whole or partial, for missed collections or being unable to collect a garden waste bin due to circumstances beyond our control.
8. The customer will be responsible for the garden waste bins, which must remain within the subscribed property in the event of the customer moving home during the year. If the customer moves house within Liverpool City boundary the subscription can be transferred to the new property address. Please contact the council to confirm the details via email gardenwastesubscription@liverpool.gov.uk. If the new property within Liverpool does not have a garden waste bin, this may incur a new charge of £25 for the bin itself. Please see our waste policy for detail. If the customer moves out of the Liverpool city boundary, no refunds, whole or partial, can be given as the subscription only operates within the Liverpool city boundary.
9. There are no refunds, whole or partial, for the cancellation of the service part way through the year by the customer. If there is evidence of misuse of the service or the garden waste bin by the customer, including contamination, then the council may suspend your collections, investigate and, if reasonably necessary to protect the property, finances or staff of the council or its contractor, we may terminate provision of the service to you. We will confirm in writing the termination of provision of the service and the reasons. There will be no refund, whole or partial, in these circumstances. We explained earlier that your subscription fee will be spent retaining a contractor which will incur costs of purchasing resources for the whole subscription period and therefore we cannot make any refunds in respect of parts of the subscription period.
10. Garden waste bin(s) must only be used for garden waste from the subscribed property of the customer. Only garden waste may be placed loose in the bin. Garden waste the council can collect: grass cuttings, hedge clippings, twigs, bark, leaves, flowers, plants, and small branches. Items the council cannot accept: large branches, invasive plant species and invasive non-native plants species, turf, earth, soil, stones, gravel, food waste, animal faeces, card, plastic, general waste, pet bedding. The council will only collect items listed as acceptable above and anything else will be treated as contamination.
11. Contaminated garden waste bins, i.e. bins containing item(s) the council cannot accept, will not be emptied. If the customer’s garden waste bin(s) are contaminated, it is the customer’s responsibility to remove the item(s) of contamination prior to the collection. If the contamination continues, the council may terminate provision of the service as this is considered misuse as per section 9. There will be no refunds, whole or partial, issued for occasions on which the customer’s garden waste bin is not emptied due to contamination. We have to insist that bins are presented for collection without contamination because our contractors are only able to accept the items listed as acceptable in section 10, which is important for recycling. We cannot make any refunds in respect of collections missed for this reason.
12. The garden waste bin must be presented at the property boundary or designated collection point with access to empty it by 6.30am on the service collection day as per the customer’s collection calendar provided by the council. The bin lid must be completely closed, and no side waste will be collected, i.e. no extra waste outside or next to the bin or placed on the lid. It is the customer’s responsibility to comply with these requirements and failure to do so may result in a missed collection. We cannot make any refunds in respect of collections missed for this reason. If the customer is unable to take the garden waste bin to the kerbside because of disability or health problems, they must apply to the council in advance for an assisted collection service by calling 0151 233 3000.
13. The customer’s garden waste bin becomes damaged during collection, the council will repair or replace it, free of charge, as soon as is reasonably practical. In circumstances where the garden waste bin is damaged through neglect or misuse the cost of repair or replacement shall be charged to the customer. If the customer’s green garden waste bin is in need of replacement, they may apply online for a new bin.