Gardeners could face an annual £50 green waste collection charge as a new weekly food-rubbish service is proposed.

Hertsmere Borough Council’s cabinet will meet on September 20 for a full vote on the suggested changes in Bushey and the rest of Hertsmere.

If approved, residents will be given a new bin specifically for food waste that will be collected every week in a green caddy. 

Watford Observer: Cllr Paul Richards has said the proposal is to help increase recycling. Cllr Paul Richards has said the proposal is to help increase recycling. (Image: Bushey Liberal Democrats)

To cover the extra food waste cost, those who still want their garden waste collected will have to opt-in to a collection service and pay £50 a year.

This will be reduced to £35 for those on council tax support.  

Cllr Paul Richards, portfolio holder for environmental sustainability and net zero and public health, said: “As a borough we are causing far more pollution and carbon-methane emissions than we should, and that’s because our recycling system is years out of date. It’s time to put that right. 

“It also means an end to your food waste rotting in overflowing bins for a whole fortnight between collections, as at present.”

He added that around 65 per cent of other councils have the same measures in place.

The Liberal Democrat councillor for Bushey North also said: “While we don’t take introducing new charges lightly, it’s much fairer than raising council tax – as 6,000 homes in the borough don’t have a garden. 

“Collecting garden waste isn’t a statutory council requirement.

“Few other councils still do it for free, and it’s no longer viable here in Hertsmere if we’re serious about playing our proper part in protecting the environment.”

According to the council, Hertsmere recycles 44.1 per cent of waste, which is just above the national average.

A total of 56 per cent of waste is sent to landfill or incineration – nearly 20 per cent more than neighbouring Three Rivers and St Albans, which already collects food weekly in a dedicated caddy, the Bushey Liberal Democrats said.

The party added that studies show that food makes up 28 per cent of Hertsmere’s black bin contents, which can’t be recycled.

That adds up to 3,000 tonnes a year, generating CO2 and methane at landfill or incineration.

For people who do not want to pay a charge there will be help for home composting and garden waste can be taken to the recycling centre for free.