RESIDENTS who want to continue receiving the garden waste collection service are being urged to sign up by Tuesday 1 March, in order to receive all collections in 2016.
An annual £25 charge has been introduced for fortnightly collections of garden waste, which will start at the end of March 2016.
Residents were informed of the changes by letter in December and thousands of residents have already signed up to the service by telephone.
It is estimated that charging for garden waste collections could deliver savings to the council of more than £800,000 per year.
Councillor Michael Mordey, Portfolio Holder for City Services said: “Our residents do a great job at recycling, and we’re very pleased with the amount of people who’ve already signed up to the garden waste collection service.
“Signing up by Tuesday 1 March guarantees residents will receive all 17 collections this year, which is only £1.47 per collection. Of course people can choose sign up later in the year too, but the cost will stay the same and they’ll have missed out on some collections.
“Unfortunately, due to massive Government cuts we simply can’t afford to continue to offer this service for free, and after looking at alternatives, charging for the service seemed a better option than losing the service altogether.”
Residents who sign up will receive a pack in the post with more information about collection dates and a sticker for their bin to identify to collection crews that they have paid for the service.
For more information and to sign up for collections, using a debit or credit card, go to www.sunderland.gov.uk/