Residents waiting for a bin from Greenwich Council have been asked to share with their neighbours or use black sacks until the council gets a new delivery of wheelies.
Supply shortages since the spring have held up deliveries of green garden waste bins and larger black wheelie bins.
Greenwich operates a colour-coded system for waste collection from houses: fortnightly collections of black-lidded bins, weekly collections of recycling from blue-lidded bins and weekly collections of food and garden waste from green-lidded bins.
Charges for garden waste are due to be brought in as part of measures to save money first reported by The Greenwich Wire more than two years ago, but there remains no detail as to how much the charge will be or when, if at all, it will be introduced.
The Greenwich Wire has been contacted by readers who have had issues obtaining bins, while responses to a recent council social media post about £100 rewards for reporting fly tippers also detailed shortages.
Neighbouring Lewisham Council has also reported shortages.
Greenwich Council said it had placed a double order of bins, which are due to arrive next month.
A spokesperson told The Greenwich Wire: “Issues with our supplier have meant delays impacting a small number of orders since mid-April. Alongside working to resolve these issues, we have been processing requests as quickly as we can.
“We are proud to be a local authority that provides residents with bins for household waste collection free of charge. During this period, we’ve received around 1,400 wheelie bins from our supplier and have continued making deliveries to residents. We currently have stock available to fulfil all existing orders and we have been working to minimise the impact on residents wherever possible.”
The spokesperson added: “Residents can request a smaller 140-litre general waste bin where appropriate, or if they are waiting for a larger bin to be delivered, they can put their black sacks for collection by 11.30am on their scheduled collection day.
“For recycling, we have stock of blue and green-lidded bins. If residents are waiting for a recycling bin delivery, recyclable materials can be placed in clear sacks by 6am on their scheduled collection day.
“Residents waiting for a mixed food and garden waste bin are encouraged, where possible, to share with neighbours or hold onto their garden waste until their bin arrives in a few weeks. Food waste caddies can continue to be placed for collection with food waste securely bagged inside.”
“We appreciate residents’ patience while we work through these temporary supply challenges.”
No date for Greenwich’s garden waste charges
Garden waste charges were part of a package of cuts approved by councillors in 2024, hoping to meet a government deadline of the end of March this year to separate food waste and garden waste in recycling collections. Because of this deadline, Greenwich started rolling out communal food waste bins for some flats earlier this year.
Because councils do not legally have to collect garden waste, they can charge for this if they wish — most London boroughs do charge for the service.
Greenwich is the only borough in SE London to collect garden waste free of charge. Bexley charges between £82 and £87 per year, while in Lewisham, the charge is £100. Bromley charges £80, while a year of collections in Southwark costs £84.
A £70/year charge would bring in £667,000/year by 2027-28, councillors were told two years ago. But after being pencilled in to launch last autumn, the fee is now delayed because of “delivery issues”, according to a cabinet budget document published in February.
Asked about the mooted changes, the council told The Greenwich Wire: “We are continuing to review our waste and recycling services to ensure they meet future legislative requirements and deliver the best possible service for residents.
“As part of this work, we are continuing to expand food waste collections to flats across the borough, and will continue to keep residents updated on work to improve waste and recycling services in the borough.”
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