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Garden waste recycling

Garden waste is collected fortnightly (alternating with household rubbish) and recycled.

You can register for free garden waste collections online or by calling 01993 861025.

In this section you will find information on:

What can go in your garden waste bin

It is important to put only the correct materials in your garden waste bin. It is time-consuming and costly to the Council - and therefore you as taxpayers - if the wrong items are put into your garden waste as these have to be manually separated at the plant which composts the waste.

Yes please:

Hedge cuttings
Twigs, branches and small logs (maximum 150mm or 6 inches diameter)
Plants, flowers and leaves
Windfalls (eg apples, pears & plums which have fallen from trees in your garden)
Grass cuttings
Cut flowers and house plants
Prunings
Weeds
Vegetable waste from the garden eg potato tops
Bark and wood shavings
Hay / Straw (soiled animal bedding from non-meat eating animals only eg rabbits)
Christmas trees

No thank you:

Bagged up garden waste, please put garden waste directly inside your bin
Noxious weeds such as Japanese Knotweed or Ragwort
Dog / cat waste
Any paper
Meat, cooking oil, wax or waxed paper
Fruit, salad of vegetable peelings
Tea bags or coffee grinds
Eggshells, stale bread or crusts
Cooked food (including vegetables)
Large items of garden waste (eg tree trunks)
Anything plastic
Glass and metal
Nappies
Stone and rubble
Large quantities of soil
Any other household waste

Putting your garden waste to good use

All garden waste collected is composted, helping to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. When landfilled, garden waste rots and produces harmful greenhouse gases and pollution. See what happens to your garden waste for more information.

Unfortunately you can't buy the compost made from your garden waste. The waste collected is taken to a commercial waste composting facility where it takes roughly 12 weeks to compost and is then sold to local businesses. If you would like compost for your garden please try home composting, for more information see: