Sack collections

Some households in West Berkshire use sacks for their rubbish and recycling, the information below relates to these households only. If you have a rubbish bin and recycling boxes, visit our rubbish collections and recycling collections pages.
 

To get the most from your service:

• make sure your sacks are ready for collection by 6am on your collection day
• do not overload your sacks with heavy items
• do not put liquids in your sacks
• ensure you only put out waste in the sacks provided by us

Rubbish

We deliver an annual supply of disposable black sacks for rubbish each year around July.
 

Recycling

Clear sacks for recycling are provided on request, please contact Customer Services to request them.

You can check what you can recycle on our recycling collections page. 

Please make sure your recycling is separated out into different sacks, you can put:

• paper and card in one sack
• plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, aerosols, drinks cans and food tins together in another sack

We cannot collect glass in sacks. You can take your glass to one of our recycling centres.

You can also recycle other items such as textiles, cartons and small electrical items at our Mini recycling centres.
 

Food waste

Please put all food waste in your kerbside caddy, where available.

Please only use compostable bags for your food waste. You can check what food waste you can recycle on our food waste collections page.

You can request a kerbside caddy online here.

Garden waste collections

If you would like to have your garden waste collected, you will need to subscribe to the garden waste sack collection service. This is an opt-in, paid for service.

You do not have to subscribe to this service if you do not want your garden waste collected. You can still recycle your garden waste for free by composting at home, or by taking it to one of our recycling centres.

The 2024/25 garden waste collection service starts on 26 August 2024 and runs until 24 August 2025.
The 2025/26 garden waste collection service starts on Monday 25 August 2025 and runs until Sunday 23 August 2026.

Who this service is for

The garden waste green sack collection service is for the collection of household garden waste from residential properties only.  You are only able to subscribe to this service if approved by the council. 

What you can put in your green sacks

We will only collect garden waste (of a type specified by the council) that is contained in the green garden waste sacks supplied by West Berkshire Council.

We will collect:

• grass cuttings
• prunings
• small twigs and branches
• hedge trimmings and leaves
• plants and weeds
• cut flowers and fallen fruit

For a full list of what can go in your green sacks, visit our garden waste collection page.
 

Excess waste and left over sacks

We will only collect garden waste (of a type specified by us) wholly contained within the green sacks supplied by West Berkshire Council; additional garden waste will not be collected.

If you use up your supply of sacks, you can make further subscriptions for additional rolls of green sacks (five rolls in total) by calling 01635 503880 (sack service only).

If you have leftover sacks at the end of a subscription period, you cannot use these in the following subscription period. Sacks are provided for use in one subscription period only.
 

Getting a green bin instead of sacks

If you would prefer to have a green 240-litre garden waste bin, please contact customer services. We will review your request, considering things like storage space and distance to your collection point and, if suitable, we can exchange your sack collection for a bin collection.

There are different service terms and conditions for garden waste bin collections - see our garden waste collection page for full information.
 

How to subscribe

Current subscribers with a Direct Debit

If you are a current subscriber and have an active Direct Debit for this service, you do not have to complete the subscription process again this year and your service will auto-renew.

You should have received an email or letter notification of your renewal in early June. If you have not received this, please contact us at: gardenwaste@westberks.gov.uk.

New subscribers or those without a Direct Debit

If you are a new subscriber, or do not have a current Direct Debit set up, you will need to subscribe to the 2024/25 service. You can subscribe to the 2024/25 subscription period from now until 30 June 2025.

There will be no part-year payment option available, regardless of when you subscribe.

Please read our  terms and conditions [625KB]  before subscribing.

To subscribe to the sack service, please call 01635 503880.
 

Once we have received your subscription, we will deliver your sacks.

Your property details will also be added to a database used by our contractor that informs collection crews which households have subscribed to the service.

Using your personal information

We will collect personal information for the purpose of processing your application and payment, providing the service, for renewal of the subscription for the following year and where applicable for collecting future Direct Debit payments.

Your property details will be added to a database used by our waste contractor and relevant council officers to provide the service to those residents who are subscribed to the service. This information will be held in a secure manner. We won't use your information for any other purpose without your permission. We won't hold it longer than we need to.

We will treat any personal information by which you can be identified (name, address, email) in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018.

You can view our privacy notice for the garden waste subscription service, here.
 

Charges

The subscription charges for the 2024/2025 period (26 August 2024 to 24 August 2025) are:

We know residents value our garden waste collection service, and we're committed to keeping it accessible for everyone. That's why, for the 2025/26 subscription period, instead of a flat fee for your first rolls of sacks, the charge will now be based on your property's Council Tax band as shown in the table below. This means those in lower bands (e.g. Band A-C) will pay less than last year, households in band D will see the charge stay the same as last year, while those in higher bands (e.g. bands E- H) will contribute a little more than last year. Even at the highest rate, our charges remain competitive compared to neighbouring councils. 

The subscription charges for the 2025/26 service which runs from Monday 25 August 2025 until Sunday 23 August 2026 are:

Places of worship and eligible village halls will be subject to a service charge of £55 for the first roll of green sacks. 

For properties that are unbanded for Council Tax, a standard charge of £55 for the first roll of green sacks will apply.

Subscription charges linked to Council Tax bandings are fixed at the time of requesting the subscription. 

We do not offer concessions for this service.

How to pay

You can pay for the 2024/25 subscription by Direct Debit or credit/debit card. You will need to pay a single charge for the full subscription period. There will be no part-year payment option and you cannot pay in instalments.

Please read the  terms and conditions [625KB]  before subscribing.

Setting up a Direct Debit

If you want to pay by Direct Debit, there are two simple steps to setting one up for your sack collection:

Step 1

Call us on 01635 503880 to tell us your subscription requirements and complete the Direct Debit mandate.

When completing the mandate, you will need to provide us with:

• your account number and sort code
• the name(s) on the account

You can typically find your 8-digit account number and 6-digit sort code on your bank statements and on the front of your bank account debit card. You may also find them on your cheque book or by logging into your online bank account.

Step 2

We will send you advance notice of the amount to be taken and when we will collect payment. Please check these details are correct and contact us at gardenwaste@westberks.gov.uk straight away if you need to query anything. Please ensure you have sufficient funds in your account when the payment is due.

Cancellation

You have the right to cancel your subscription within 21 days without giving any reason.

The cancellation period will expire after 21 days from the day you subscribe. If you cancel within 21 days from subscription and payment has been received by us, we will make a full refund. This does not affect your statutory rights or the Direct Debit guarantee.

If you cancel your subscription, your green sacks will not be collected.

For full information, please refer to the  terms and conditions [625KB]  and cancellation policy.

Moving house

If you move house within the West Berkshire district, there is no need to cancel your subscription. Please complete our online change of address form, and we will usually be able to transfer your subscription to your new address.
There are no refunds outside of the cancellation period.

Missed collection

We will only collect garden waste (of a type specified by us) contained within the green sacks supplied by West Berkshire Council. 

We retain the right to refuse to collect the sacks if they contain the wrong types of materials. For the collection service to be resumed, you will be required to remove the wrong types of materials from the sacks before your next scheduled collection date.

For a full list of what can go in your green sacks, visit our garden waste collection page.

For information about missed collections, visit our missed collection page.