No matter how much or how little garden waste you have, remember to recycle or compost it.
Garden waste is a valuable resource that can be reused either in your own garden or on a larger scale to nourish soil. If disposed of to landfill, this resource is lost and environmental problems can arise.
The following information provides a selection of useful tips on how to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle your garden waste locally and nationally.
Reduce Garden Waste
Home Composter
Home composting is an easy way to turn garden and some food waste into compost for your garden. It also reduces the amount of waste in your bin. Most types of garden waste from leaves & twigs to flowers & plants can be composted. You don’t need to produce a lot of garden waste to compost.
Shredded paper, uncooked vegetable peelings and some other types of food waste (excluding cooked food or meat waste) can also be composted along with your garden waste.
Green Cone Food Digester
Food waste digesters break down food waste such as bread and cooked/uncooked meat & dairy products that cannot be composted, into a nutrient rich liquid that seeps into the soil helping to fertilise your garden.
The Scottish Government supports the home composting campaign which allows us to offer a range of compost bins at reduced prices. To find out more and order a bin please visit the
Waste Aware Scotland website.
(Discounted green cone food digesters are available to local residents directly from Aberdeenshire Council).
Reuse Garden Waste
Compost
Compost is produced when your garden and food waste is broken down by a home composter or large scale composting facility. Compost returns nutrients to your soil, improves soil structure and can aid drainage. When buying compost, look for recycled content.
Peat-free Compost
Peat-free compost is the natural choice for any green gardener as it prevents the damage and destruction of lowland peat bogs. Peat beds take thousands of years to form and house some of Scotland’s rarest habitats.
You can buy peat-free compost from your local retailer or garden centre. Compost made at home or from the contents of your brown bin are also peat-free. Visit the
Waste Aware Scotland website to find out more about peat-free compost.
Mulch
Mulch is a protective cover placed over the soil to lock in soil moisture and suppress weeds. Garden waste such as grass cuttings, leaves and wood chips can be reused as a mulch cover and can also act as a direct form of composting at the same time.
Recycle Garden Waste
Recycling Centres
Garden waste is accepted at most Recycling Centres. This waste is then taken to a local composting facility where it is turned into a valuable compost product for various uses.
Visit the
Waste Aware Scotland website to find out how your garden waste is recycled.
Kerbside Recycling
Garden waste is accepted for collection at the kerbside from some households in Moray and Aberdeen City. If this service is available to you, you should have received a garden waste bin and information on the types of garden waste that can be recycled. A kerbside garden waste collection is not currently available to households in Aberdeenshire.
