County Durham residents are being reminded to sign up soon to ensure they receive all available garden waste collections.

To guarantee they receive all 17 collections for 2020/21, people must sign up to the Durham County Council scheme before 14 February.

The first collection for people who subscribe to the service before this deadline takes place the week beginning Tuesday, 31 March. This will be followed by fortnightly collections until late autumn.

Residents can subscribe throughout the year until 1 September 2020 but only people who sign up before 14 February 2020 are guaranteed to receive the full 17 collections for the year. Collections will start as soon as possible after any other sign up date and will run until November when the collection season ends.

The following garden waste can be put in the scheme’s garden bins and will be used to create compost:

  • Grass cuttings
  • Shrubs
  • Leaves
  • Weeds
  • Flowers and bedding plants
  • Hedge clippings
  • Prunings
  • Small branches

John Shannon, the council’s strategic waste manager, said: “We would like to remind people that it’s not too late to subscribe to our garden waste collections, which offer an easy way to dispose of green waste.”

Durham County Council provides garden waste collections to eligible properties in County Durham. To sign up to the service, which costs £35 for the year, or find out if a property is eligible, people should call 03000 261 000 or visit www.durham.gov.uk/gardenwaste

Rotters Composting work in partnership with the council to carry out garden waste collections in the Teesdale area. Residents in this area should call 01833 690 022 or visit www.rotters.org to check their eligibility or to sign up for the scheme.

Residents who have already subscribed to the service are reminded to fix their bin sticker to the garden waste bin and put the bin out for collection by 7am on their collection day. Details of collection days can be found by entering a postcode and property number at www.durham.gov.uk/MyDurham.