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.
