Council To Run Garden Waste Campaign
14th May 2012
The Highland Council is running a campaign to improve the quality of the garden waste collected at Recycling Centres and from the brown bin collection service.
The garden waste collected by the Council is turned into compost and is mainly used by farmers as a soil conditioner; some is also used for landfill restoration. All compostable material collected by local authorities must meet a quality standard, PAS 100 which ensures the compost is suitable for its intended use. Recent changes to the PAS 100 standard mean that testing for items such as stones and plastic have become more stringent.
Householders are reminded that the brown bin collections and garden waste skips at Recycling Centres are intended solely for garden waste such as grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, twigs and small branches, flowers and weeds but excluding notifiable weeds such as Japanese knotweed and ragwort. Soil, stones turf, and rubble must not be included. All types of plastic, including polystyrene, should also be kept out of the garden waste. Kitchen waste, cooked or raw, should not be included. Neither should any animal waste material which may contain dangerous pathogens. Bagged waste is also not accepted.
Since The Highland Council started collecting garden waste in 2004/5, a staggering 130,000 tonnes of material has been collected and successfully composted. Most of this would otherwise have ended up in landfill where it emits the potent global warming gas, methane. Last year alone, 20,400 tonnes of material was collected, 14,000 tonnes of this coming from the brown bin collections.
Over the next few weeks the Waste Awareness Team will be joining crews on garden waste collection vehicles and will be in attendance at Recycling Centres to monitor the material being collected and talk to householders. Brown garden waste bins contaminated with the wrong material will be stickered and may be left as these items could contaminate the whole load.
A spokesperson for the council said: "It's clear that the majority of householders in Highland are doing a great job separating their garden waste but some householders are under the impression that because it is a garden waste service they can include anything that happens to be in their garden. More extreme items found in garden waste bins have included broken garden furniture, flowerpots, toys, garden ornaments, and even wellington boots."
Householders, especially those in areas without brown garden waste bin collections, are also encouraged, whenever possible, to compost at home. This has both environmental and financial benefits to householders, giving a free and very environmentally friendly source of compost for the garden. Home composting can include a wider range of material such as raw kitchen waste.
Advice on home composting and other ways of reducing waste and increasing recycling is available by visiting www.highland.gov.uk/recycle, email recycle[AT]highland.gov.uk or call 01349 886603.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
The first Highland-wide virtual jobs fair held last month has proved to be a hit with participants and businesses. The week-long virtual event, which was delivered by the Local Employability Partnership for the West - The Highland Council, Skills Development Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Department for Work and Pensions, Developing the Young Workforce and UHI North West and Hebrides was timed to coincide with Scottish Careers Week 2024.
The Service Centre will close at 5pm on Tuesday 24 December, re-opening on Friday 27 December (opening times 8am to 5pm). It will be closed on 1 and 2 January and open 8am to 5pm from Friday 3 January 2025.
Members have considered an update on the Council's medium term financial plan and the impact of the UK and Scottish Governments’ budgets on the coming year’s funding settlement. The position is currently looking more positive than initially planned for, however more detail needs to be worked through.
In November, The Highland Council launched a public statutory consultation to seek views on the proposed introduction of a Visitor Levy scheme across the Highlands. The Council has announced an extension to this consultation period, which will now give businesses, visitors and communities until 31 March 2025, an additional seven weeks, to take part and have their say.
In the light of the financial forecast for 2025-26, Highland Council is inviting you to tell us more in the budget preparation for the coming financial year. The budget engagement builds on extensive budget participation which took place in the winter of 2023-24.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Every year Highland Council invites all tenants to have their say on the rent levels for the following year. The Council encourages everyone that lives in a council house to take this chance to have their say.
Communities and Place Committee met yesterday (Wednesday 27 November 2024) and Members agreed the Highland Local Child Poverty Action Report which includes actions for delivery in 2024/25. Reducing child poverty is a priority for the Council and its partners.
The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
Members of the Highland Council's Community and Place Committee have given their support to an action plan focusing on the operating of public conveniences over the next 10 years. Whilst not a statutory function, the Council is the main provider of public conveniences located throughout Highland, operating 74 sites.