Refuse and Waste

Household waste - Garden waste

Garden waste can be used for composting at home or can be brought to the recycle and reuse centres for composting.

If you have a garden, green waste can contribute as much as 30% of your typical household waste.

Even if you don't have a garden, other 'organic' waste can still make up a large part of your weekly waste. So why not do something great with it?

Reduces pollution - Being organic and biodegradable, when garden waste goes to landfill it produces methane - a very potent greenhouse gas (20 times worse than carbon dioxide - which is also released during the rotting process)
Reduces the need for landfills - With so much garden waste being produced, a lot of space is needed to provide landfill for it. This is space that we are fast running out of
Protects the countryside - Garden waste is made into compost, which is used instead of peat-based products. Extracting peat is environmentally damaging as the bogs take thousands of years to form and digging them up destroys a natural and fragile habitat for plants and wildlife
Burning garden waste releases carbon dioxide and toxins that are harmful to health. It is also bad for the environment