Where does your garden waste go

Garden waste collected at the kerbside goes to a composting site where it is turned into a nutritious soil conditioner.

This increases the nutrients and improves a soils structure to help plants grow.

This can be used for agriculture, land reclamation and as an ingredient in some multipurpose composts you can buy at a garden centre.

After the collection of your garden waste, it is taken to a windrow composting site on Island.

Green waste taken to the Recycling Centres is also composted here.

This company then turns your garden waste into compost.

When the garden waste arrives at the composting site, any material that is not compostable is removed.

The remaining waste is then shredded and then laid out in a long pile to decompose, usually in the open air.

The process at a composting site is like what happens in your home compost bin. It is actively managed to speed up the process. Due to the amount of material the temperature reached is a lot higher than in a normal household compost bin. Temperatures can reach up to 60°C.

At higher temperatures, enzymes and bacteria work quickly, resulting in finished compost in a few weeks.

The material is turned often to give much needed oxygen to microorganisms that help decompose the material. High temperatures kill off any harmful microbes, weeds and plant diseases.

The final part of the process screens the compost to remove any remaining contaminants.

The whole process takes between eight and 16 weeks, depending on the final use for the compost.