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Garden waste

Compostable garden waste collected from homes across Buckinghamshire or taken to Household Recycling Centres is processed into compost. It can be composted into high quality compost that you may buy at DIY stores, or on a larger scale to be used in Agriculture. The garden waste is bulked up in Buckinghamshire, to save the bin lorries having to drive long distances. It is then transported in large lorries to composting facilities. The process it undergoes is similar to how you might compost at home. 

  • The garden waste is shredded, mixed and placed into windrows (long piles) along a non permeable surface.

  • The windrows are turned on a regular basis to improve air flow and make sure heat and moisture levels are even.

  • The windrows are turned multiple times during the composting process, which takes on average sixteen weeks.

  • The last part of the process involves screening the compost to remove contaminants such as plastics and metals, and to also grade the compost for various end uses. Oversized materials are also removed and can be put back through the whole process until they have composted down sufficiently.

Did you know garden waste reaches 40-60 degrees during the composting process. Hotter than a compost heap at home.

Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire is where most garden waste is sent for composting.

12,000 tonnes of garden waste is composted from Buckinghamshire homes each year.