As the days start to get longer and more of us are spending time outside in the garden enjoying the outdoors, Watford residents are being reminded about the importance of making full use of the green waste bin for their organic garden and food waste.
By using the green food and garden waste bin, residents are able to recycle the following items:
Yes Please!
- Grass clippings
- Prunings
- Leaves
- Small branches
- Flowers
- Bones
- Bread
- Cakes and biscuits
- Cheese
- Coffee growns
- Eggs (including the shell)
- Fish
- Fruit
- Meat (Cooked and uncooked)
- Tea bags
- Vegetable peelings
- Any type of wood which is not small branches or purnings
- Japanese knotweed
- Large branches
- Soil or sand
- Any other rubbish
- Compostable liners
- Plastic bags
- Cardboard
- Food packaging such as tins, cans of plastic containers
- Milk
By recycling food and garden waste, residents are able to help reduce the amount of waste Watford sends to landfill. There is no oxygen within a landfill site which means that when food and garden waste rots down they produce methane a harmful greenhouse gas. According to research by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this is 25 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
The food and garden waste from the green wheelie bin is delivered to West London Composting where it is turned into high quality compost within 12 – 14 weeks. The compost produced is then used within local agriculture and also in parks across the borough.
To contain the waste, residents are able to wrap their food waste in a sheet of newspaper or kitchen towel before placing it into the green wheelie bin. In Watford residents are not able to recycle their food waste in plastic bags or biodegradable compostable liners as these do not break down and turn into compost quickly enough.
Matthew Crane, Senior Contract Manager for Veolia in Watford said: “We would like to thank those residents who are making full use of the green waste bin. By using the green bin correctly residents are doing their bit to help protect our planet from increased greenhouse gas emissions.”
For more information about the food and garden waste collection service, please contact the Veolia Watford Contact Centre on [email protected] or call 020 3567 6900.