Havering Green Bin Charge: How Garden Waste Collection Works and What to Do When It Isn't Enough

How much is the Havering green bin charge?

For the 2026–27 contract year, Havering Council charges £87 per 240-litre green wheeled bin. The bin is collected every other week from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 (checked October 2026). If you want two bins, you pay £87 for each. The price is the same whether you sign up in April or in February. The council's garden waste page says there is no discount for starting after April and no refund if you cancel after you have renewed.

There is also a compostable sack service at the same price. For £87 a year you get 50 compostable sacks, collected fortnightly. The sack contract works differently from the bin contract. It runs for one calendar year from the day you subscribe, not from April to March. That makes a real difference if you are joining late in the year. If you use up your sacks, extra rolls of 10 cost £16 plus £7.50 delivery.

The charge has risen steadily over the past few years. Council sources show £50.60 for 2020/21 and £70 per bin for 2023/24, compared with £87 now. A council renewal email for 2025–26 also quotes £87, but the same email gives a conflicting total and has the wrong year in its heading. It is therefore unclear whether the price reached £87 in 2025–26 or in 2026–27, so that year is left out of the chart below.

How do you sign up for Havering garden waste collection?

Signing up, renewing, changing your address or number of bins, and cancelling all go through the same two routes. You can use the council's online 'Manage your garden waste bin contract' form. You can also phone the council's garden waste team, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, except bank holidays. The number is listed on the council's garden waste page. The online form is usually quicker, because it looks up your address and shows only the options that apply to you at that time of year.

Renewal for 2027–28 opens in early March, when the council sends out renewal information. To cancel at renewal time, simply don't renew. The contract lapses and the council takes the bin back. If you cancel after you have already renewed, you won't get a refund, so decide before you pay. The research didn't confirm whether collections stop straight away if you renew late. If you miss the renewal window, check with the council rather than assuming your bin will still be emptied.

When does Havering collect green waste, and is there a winter break?

Havering collects garden waste every other week, all year round. Some councils pause garden waste for several weeks or months over winter, but Havering doesn't. Its only break is two weeks over Christmas. Autumn leaves, late cut-backs and winter pruning can all go in the bin from October to March as normal.

To find your collection day, use the council's 'check your collection day' lookup. Once you're subscribed, it shows your next garden waste date. The yearly garden waste calendar (a PDF covering 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) splits collections into 'week 1' and 'week 2'. Take the date from the lookup, match it to the right week on the calendar, and you can plan the rest of the year. The council's renewal email says green bins are collected as normal in bank holiday weeks, apart from the Christmas closure.

Late October and November are when bins fill fastest. Leaf fall, cutting back perennials and the last hedge trim of the year all happen at once. One 240-litre bin every fortnight keeps up with a lawn and a few borders. It won't keep up with a mature hedge, a tree reduction or a garden that has been left for a season or two. The sections below cover what to do when that happens.

What can and can't go in a Havering green bin?

Havering's green bin is for soft garden waste: flowers and plants, garden weeds, grass cuttings, hedge trimmings and leaves. The council's list of items that are not allowed includes food waste, general household waste, stones, plant pots, plastic bags or containers, and soil. The sack service accepts the same items plus small twigs and branches. It does not take logs or heavy or abrasive items. The table compares the bin, the sacks and the local recycling centre.

Branches are the grey area. Havering's bin page doesn't mention twigs or branches at all, and we found no maximum branch thickness for either the bin or the sacks. If you are cutting back shrubs, keep woody material small and leafy. If you have anything thicker, the recycling centre or a one-off collection is the safer route.

What if you have more garden waste than the bin holds?

A single 240-litre bin emptied fortnightly suits regular, light garden waste. It struggles with jobs that create a lot of waste at once, such as cutting back a long leylandii hedge, taking down a shrub border, lifting turf or clearing a garden at a rental or probate property. You have several options, and the right one depends on how much waste there is and what it is made of.

For a fuller list of disposal routes, from composting to green waste recycling, see our guide on what to do with garden waste. If you are considering a skip for a large clear-up, read whether you can put garden waste in a skip before you book one. Skips have their own rules on soil and green waste.

Can you take garden waste to the tip in Havering?

Yes. Havering's household recycling centre is Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre, Gerpins Lane, Upminster RM14 2XR. It is run by the East London Waste Authority (ELWA). Residents of Havering, Barking & Dagenham, Newham and Redbridge can use any of ELWA's four centres for household waste: Chigwell Road, Frizlands Lane, Gerpins Lane and Jenkins Lane. Staff may check your vehicle for proof of address, so take something that shows where you live.

The tip works well if you have a car, a modest amount of green waste and the time to make a few trips. It works less well for a full clearance. Bagged hedge cuttings take up a lot of room in a hatchback. Soil and broken fencing come with booking and visit limits. Gerpins Lane also accepts commercial waste, but we found no published prices. Small builders and gardeners should check the charges with ELWA directly.

Is a green bin subscription worth it versus a one-off garden clearance?

It depends on two things: how regularly you produce garden waste, and when in the year you join. The bin contract always ends on 31 March and costs £87 whenever you start. If you sign up in late October 2026, you pay the full £87 for about five months of collections up to 31 March 2027, with the two Christmas weeks off. Then renewal for 2027–28 opens in early March.

The sack service is worth a look if you are joining late. Its contract runs for one calendar year from the day you subscribe, so a late-October sign-up still gets 12 months of collections for the same £87. The trade-off is capacity. You get 50 sacks for the year, and extra rolls cost £16 plus £7.50 delivery.

Many households use both. They keep a bin for routine lawn and border waste and book a one-off removal for the jobs the bin can't handle, such as a hedge reduction, a tree surgeon's leftover brash, or a garden that needs clearing before a sale or a new tenancy. For an overview of how private collections work across the capital, see our page on garden waste removal in London.

How much does private garden waste removal cost in Havering?

We found no reliable published price list for private garden waste removal specific to Havering, so this guide gives no Havering price range. The price of a one-off removal depends mainly on volume and weight, what the waste is (soil and turf are much heavier than leaves), how easy it is to reach and load, and whether the crew needs to do the loading. For London-wide pricing and what pushes a job up or down, see our garden waste removal cost guide for London.

For wider context, the figures below come from RubbishBids jobs between 14 April and 9 September 2026. They cover all job types across London, not just garden waste or Havering. Use them as a sense of scale, not as a price for your job.

The 50% median spread between the lowest and highest bid on the same job shows why comparing bids is worthwhile. On RubbishBids, you post your job with photos, your postcode and a description of what needs to go. Environment Agency-licensed waste carriers then bid, and you choose the bid you want. Only the carrier you select receives your contact details. RubbishBids doesn't collect waste itself. You can see local coverage on our Havering rubbish removal page.