Shropshire Council says its controversial chargeable garden waste scheme will help to “protect essential front-line services” after launching to the public.

Subscriptions to the scheme opened on Tuesday (September 3), meaning residents will either need to sign up to the paid service or see their collections cease from October.

Garden waste collections are currently free to Shropshire householders, but the council says it needs to charge the yearly fee of £56 for the non-statutory service in order to help it make ends meet.

Around three quarters of local authorities in England charge for garden waste collections.

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Shropshire Council says it anticipates an initial take-up of around 30%, or around 41,000 households, which would net the authority an extra £2.2m, with hopes the number of subscriptions would rise over time.

“Garden waste collections will stop from 1 October for anyone that hasn’t subscribed by this date, so I encourage anyone that wants to keep using the service to sign up as soon as possible,” said Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s deputy Leader and Cabinet member for waste management.

“As we’ve said before, Shropshire Council is facing unprecedented financial pressure. We must make significant savings and our plans include difficult decisions. We must look at other ways of creating income so that we can protect essential front-line services for those residents most in need.

“Though the collection of garden waste is not a service that the council must by law provide, it is one that we want to continue to provide. And as not all residents need or want the service we’ll now be providing this as an opt-in chargeable service to those who need or want it.

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“Some 80% of English councils already charge for garden waste collections, and many have been doing so for several years. An annual green waste subscription charge of £56 is in line with our neighbouring councils – and will help us to make the required savings.”

The authority says subscribing households will be given a tamper-proof sticker for their garden waste bin which will ensure their clippings are collected.

The scheme, due to be launched earlier this week but slightly delayed due to a technical glitch, uses a booking system known as MiPermit already employed by the council for its parking permits.

Collections of food waste, which households used to used to be able to put in their garden waste bin, will be suspended from October ahead of the introduction of a new scheme in 2026 designed to fulfil new central government regulations.