Garden waste collections
Our garden waste collection service is an opt-in subscription service, and residents wishing to have their garden waste collected must be signed up.
On this page
- Why has a subscription service been introduced?
- About our garden waste service
- Subscribe to our garden waste collection service
- Garden waste sacks and tags
- Items accepted through our garden waste service
- How to use your tags
- Instructions for collection
- Assisted collections
- Missed collection
- What if I don't sign up?
Why has a subscription service been introduced?
Due to ongoing government funding shortfalls - including a £500,000 rise from National Insurance changes, and projected waste disposal cost increases of £1.6 million in 2025/26 and £2.6 million per year to 2029/30 - the council has introduced a charge for household garden waste collections to make the service more sustainable.
The service ensures residents receive better value for money than neighbouring boroughs, with the continuation of weekly household collections in spring, summer and autumn (fortnightly in winter when collection volumes halve), a greater capacity per collection and a cheaper rate per collection.
About our garden waste service
Collections are made Mondays to Fridays:
- weekly between March and November
- fortnightly during the winter months (December to February)
- with changes during bank holiday periods.
The 2025/26 service runs until Tuesday 31 March 2026 and costs £70 (there are no set-up fees).
The service includes 3 sacks and tags as standard. Households can request up to 3 additional sacks and tags, if needed.
Subscribe to our garden waste collection service
You can subscribe to the collection service any time from now until Wednesday 31 December.
To avoid any disruption to your collections, we recommend signing up as soon as possible. Collections will start the week after you subscribe.
Before signing up, please ensure you have read our garden waste collection service terms and conditions.
Subscribe to our garden waste collection service
Confirmation of subscription
- You will receive a confirmation email of your subscription once you have signed up. If you do not receive an email, please check your spam/junk folders.
- If you were logged in to My Account when you subscribed for our garden waste service, you can also check your subscription details within My Account.
What happens once I've subscribed?
- If this is your first time having garden waste collected in Hillingdon, you will be provided with both garden waste sacks and tags (tags and sacks may arrive separately).
- If you already have your garden waste collected in Hillingdon, you will be provided with garden waste tags to use on your existing garden waste sacks.
Change of address
If you move home within the borough and still wish to use the garden waste collection service at your new address, please complete our change of address form.
This helps ensure your subscription and collection details are updated correctly.
Change my address for garden waste
Garden waste sacks and tags
If your garden waste tags haven't arrived by your first collection day, you can still use the service if you have subscribed; just make sure your door number is written on your garden waste sack.
If you have subscribed to our garden waste service and need additional sacks or tags (up to 3 of each) or replacement garden waste sacks, you can request these using our online form. Households can have a maximum of 6 tags and sacks.
If your current garden waste sacks are old, but still fit for use, please continue to use these for as long as possible to avoid unnecessary waste.
On the form, please provide the email address you used to subscribe. Failure to do this may delay your request being processed.
Request garden waste tags or sacks
Items accepted through our garden waste service
- Grass cuttings and hedge clippings
- Leaves, twigs and branches
- Dead flowers and weeds
Please note: We cannot take large amounts of soil, mud and dirt.
How to use your tags
- Write your address on the back of the tags using a permanent marker.
- Place 1 tag on the handle of each of your garden waste sacks. Make sure the tag is pulled tight and cut any excess cable with scissors to prevent it getting caught during collections.
Watch our garden waste how-to video guide, which shows a step-by-step guide to using our new garden waste subscription service.
Important: The garden waste tags are single-use; once fastened, tags cannot be undone and reused.
Instructions for collection
- Carefully cut large twigs and branches so they measure no more than 2 inches in diameter and 2 feet long and fit in the garden waste sack.
- Make sure the sacks can be lifted by our collection team.
- Keep all your garden sacks within your property boundary until collection day.
- Ensure each garden waste sack has your household's tag attached to it.
- On your collection day, leave your garden waste sacks near the end of your property boundary before 6am.
- If you do not have a front garden, leave your garden sack on the pavement the night before collection (no earlier than 5.30pm).
Assisted collections
Residents who are not physically able to present their waste at their property boundary and have no support from a family member, carer or neighbour to help dispose of their garden waste sacks, can request an assisted collection from the front of their property.
Request an assisted collection
Missed collection
If your garden waste hasn't been collected on your collection day and you have followed instructions for collection, please let us know and we will make another collection within 2 working days.
Please note:
- You must be subscribed for garden waste collection to report a missed collection.
- A missed collection cannot be reported until after 1.30pm on your collection day and must be within 72 hours of the collection being missed.
Report a missed garden waste collection
What if I don't sign up?
If you choose not to subscribe to our new garden waste collection service, there are other options for disposing of garden waste free of charge, including:
- composting at home: garden waste and other material can be recycled at home with a compost bin
- taking garden waste to one of our waste and recycling centres.
Important:
- Garden waste will only be collected from properties subscribed to the service.
- General household waste bags will not be collected if they have garden waste in them.
- If you are a trader and wish to bring garden waste to one of our recycling centres, trade rates will apply. For more information and pricing, visit our DIY and building waste page.