Highland Council’s garden waste collection service charge will rise again later this year.
In 2017, the charge for the fortnightly brown bin collection service was £30, but after previous increase and this latest one, the fee will be closer to £50.
From September, householders will be asked to pay 3% pay more for the annual permit.
With this and previous price rises the cost from September will be £46.35.
Allan Henderson, chairman of the council’s communities and place committee, insisted the cost had been kept as “low as possible”.
He said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has put huge pressure on the council’s finances, but I’m pleased to announce that we have managed to keep the price increase for the garden waste collection service as low as possible with just a £1.35 price increase this year.
“Using the garden waste collection service significantly helps the council to reduce costs from landfilling waste, while also contributing to the environment by recycling garden waste.”
However, earlier price rises raised fly-tipping fears.
And a petition launched to urge the Scottish Government to scrap brown bin charges and include the fee as part of council tax now has more than 7,000 signatures.
The waste is turned into compost in Aberdeenshire.