Green Waste; Why recycle?

• Composting is a great way to keep your garden waste out of landfill sites and to return something to Mother Nature.
• A Landfill Tax is charged on all waste sent to landfill and this is set to rise dramatically by 2010. Each tonne of garden waste collected for composting avoids Landfill Tax that would have been charged had the waste gone to landfill. All of the costs of waste disposal and the impact of the Landfill Tax are reflected in your annual Council Tax bills
• Local Authorities have been set recycling targets. Both garden waste and other recyclables count towards the recycling target, and green waste is already playing an important part.

What happens to the Garden Waste?

• Green waste collected by the scheme is delivered to Sidegate Lane composting facility near Irthlingborough.  The material is then shredded and then formed into prism shaped (triangular) giant compost heaps called windrows.  The green waste in the windrows is then regularly turned to ensure that it composts evenly.  During the composting process heat is given off by the microbes that carry out the composting and the material in the windrow can get as hot as 70 degrees centigrade.  This sterilizes the compost and kills any weed seeds that were in the green waste.
  
  
• After about 14 weeks the material is fully composted and has become a rich, crumbly, soil like dark substance that is unrecognisable from the green waste that is was made from.  This material is then screened to remove any non organic contaminants and larger pieces of woody material that have not fully composted.  This is then either bagged up for sale at Northamptonshire County Council Recycling Centres or sent away for further processing and/or blending to produce peat free multipurpose compost sold at garden centres, an agricultural soil improver or landscaping material.