Starting this week, residents in an Essex borough will have to pay for garden waste pickups.
Beginning on Monday, brown bin collections at Basildon Council will only be available by subscription.
Alternatively, the local government advised residents to "leave your garden wild.".
One of many councils in Essex that has implemented or is considering implementing a subscription fee is the council in question.
When the new waste plan was approved at a cabinet meeting in January, Kevin Blake, the conservative cabinet member in charge of the environment and carbon reduction, said: "Without significant change, we will not meet our environmental targets and the recycling service will continue to increase in cost year over year for declining performance. ".
For 2023–2024, households must pay £25 annually, and for 2024–2025, they will be required to pay £50 annually.
Residents who were interested in signing up for the subscription were urged to do so online.
As an alternative, the council advised residents to purchase a compost bin, "leave your garden wild" to promote healthy natural habitats and the pollination cycle, or bring their garden waste to the Barleylands Recycling Center.
More than 25,000 households have signed up so far, according to the council, which previously collected garden waste from about 40,000 properties.
Out of 7,000 responses to Basildon's waste strategy consultation, 84% were neutral or strongly neutral toward the fees.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the leader of the Labour opposition Maryam Yaqub criticized the introduction at a time of rising living expenses.
The charges have already been implemented by the local governments in Brentwood, Castle Point, Harlow, Maldon, Tendring, Southend, and Uttlesford, in line with other local governments across the nation.