Large households to be charged to have second green bins emptied in Milton Keynes

From next month, people must pay £55 a year for each additional bin they need emptying.

The move applies only to green bins, which take food and garden waste. The collection of black, blue or red bins will remain free of charge.

Residents can subscribe to have up to two additional green bins collected weekly and the first green bin will still be free for everyone.

The 2025/26 subscription cost is £55 per bin and the service will run from May 12 2025 to March 31 2026.

The council will issue a permit sticker for each subscribed additional green bin within 10 working days of the subscription start date. Additional green bins without a valid permit sticker will not be collected after May 2025, they have warned.

A MK City Council spokesperson described the move as “fair”, saying: “ Anyone who does not wish to subscribe for an additional green bin collection can still take extra food and garden waste to a local recycling centre or compost at home.”

They added: “Most neighbouring authorities already charge a similar amount for the first garden waste bin and only offer fortnightly collections. We are only charging for second and third green bin collections and the first green bin remains free for households.

"Garden waste collections are not a statutory service and incur additional costs. It's fair that people who produce more waste should contribute more towards this. This also helps to protect our weekly recycling and waste collections.”

The decision to introduce charging was made by councillors at a meeting of Full Council held in public in February.

"All budget proposals were subject to public consultation and the council issued statements to the media and posted on social media to raise awareness of the budget proposals,” said the council spokesperson.

They are confident the charging system will not backfire and cause more fly tipping or burning of garden waste.

“Long term evidence from other local authority areas shows no such issues,” said the spokesperson.

Pay for your extra green bin here.