In Carmarthenshire you can use the council's garden waste bin, which is £60.60 for the 2026 season, take it to a household waste recycling centre, compost it at home, or pay someone to take it away. We collect green waste for £150 per van load. Whoever takes your waste must be a registered waste carrier.
Your options at a glance
| Option | Cost or rules | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Council garden waste bin | £60.60 for the 2026 season, or £54.54 paid in full by card | Regular grass cuttings, leaves and hedge trimmings |
| Household waste recycling centre | Carmarthenshire residents only, vans need a permit | The odd car load |
| Home compost heap | Council compost bins are £15 including delivery | Soft garden waste, if you've got the space |
| Our green waste collection | £150 per van load, loaded by us | A big pile you can't shift yourself |
The council garden waste bin
Carmarthenshire County Council's garden waste service costs £60.60 for the 2026 season, or £54.54 if you pay in full by card. Everyone has to subscribe every year, new and existing customers. This season there are 21 fortnightly collections between February and December, and the last collections are on 27 November.
- Only council issued bins are emptied. If you need one, a 240 litre bin is a one-off £19.
- The waste goes in loose, not in bags, and don't overfill or compact it.
- It takes hedge, tree and shrub cuttings, roots, grass cuttings and rakings, leaves, plants, flowers and weeds.
When we cut lawns or tidy gardens we can put the clippings in your green bin on site if there's room, which saves you paying for them to be taken away.
Household waste recycling centres
There are four recycling centres in Carmarthenshire, at Nantycaws near Carmarthen, Trostre near Llanelli, Wern Ddu in Ammanford and Whitland, and they have separate bins for garden waste. They're for Carmarthenshire residents only and they do residency checks, so take a driving licence, a council tax bill or a recent utility bill. If you're taking it in a van, check whether you need a permit first, which lets you visit up to 12 times a year.
Composting it at home
The council says garden waste can be home composted, and sells compost bins for £15 including delivery. The RHS says a good heap is roughly a quarter to a half soft green stuff like grass clippings, with the rest dry, woody material like prunings and hedge trimmings, and that compost can take between six months and two years to be ready. Grass clippings on their own turn slimy, so mix them in.
Paying someone to take it away
If the cutting's done and you're left with a pile, our green waste collection is £150 per van load. We load it ourselves, bagged or loose, and take it to a licensed site. It's green waste only, so we can't take soil, turf, rubble, household rubbish, plastics, treated or painted timber, or large logs and stumps. If you'd like the cutting done too, we quote the whole job with the waste shown separately, and a whole booked day includes one van load of green waste.
Check they're a registered waste carrier
This is the important bit. Natural Resources Wales says householders have a duty of care to only hand their waste to someone authorised to take it, which for a business means a registered waste carrier. If your waste ends up fly tipped by someone who isn't, you can get a £300 fixed penalty, reduced to £150 if you pay within 10 days.
- Ask for their waste carrier registration number and check it on the Natural Resources Wales public register.
- Be wary of someone on social media offering cash in hand only, or a price that seems far too cheap.
- Be wary of adverts or websites with no carrier registration and limited contact details.
We're a registered waste carrier, and you're welcome to ask for our number and check it.
Sources: Carmarthenshire County Council, garden waste collections; Carmarthenshire County Council, recycling and waste FAQs; CWM Environmental, recycling centre FAQs; RHS, composting; Natural Resources Wales, disposing of your household waste; Natural Resources Wales, public register of waste carriers; Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019. Our prices are our own current prices.
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