Bath & North East Somerset Council - Composting FAQs

Composting FAQs

  • What is garden waste?
  • What are the ways I can deal with garden waste?
  • Garden Waste Collections
  • Home Composting
Whatis garden waste?

Garden waste refers to the type of organic waste arising from day to day gardening activities.  This includes waste from any plants, trees or other vegetation growing in your garden.

This can include things like grass cuttings, weeds and dead plants, prunings, twigs and leaves.

Garden waste does not include waste arising from other garden based activities such as landscaping.  Soil and rubble are not classed as garden waste.  Plastic items such as seed trays are also not classed as garden waste as they are not organic and will not rot down.

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Whatare the ways I can deal with garden waste?

The best thing to do is to compost your garden waste and kitchen scraps at home. To find out more about composting at home, please go to How to compost at home.

Alternatively we provide a collection service. This is most suited to the materials that you would not normally compost at home.  There is a charge for the garden waste.  For more information, please go to Garden waste collections. 

You can also take garden waste to one of the three Recycling Centres in Bath and North East Somerset, where there are separate containers for collecting the garden waste.

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Garden Waste Collections

Why is there a charge for collecting garden waste?

Local Authorities can make a charge for collecting garden waste.  We make a charge for the following reasons:

  • We want to encourage people to compost as much as possible at home.  By maintaining a charge, there is an incentive for people to keep composting.
  • Local Authorities that have offered free garden waste collections have found the amount of waste they have to deal with rises dramatically along with the costs of providing the service.
  • The collections are expensive to run and are already heavily subsidised by the Council.  If we did not make a charge they would be too expensive to run.
  • Not everybody has a garden so it would be unfair on those people to offer a completely free service.

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What materials must I avoid putting out for the Garden Waste Collections?

Do not put out any kinds of plastic for collection as they cannot be composted.  This includes things like plastic film (eg the plastic windows found on cake boxes), handles, sticky tape and other attachments.  Please also do not put out plastic bags.

Please do not put out any plastic described as 'biodegradable' or 'compostable'  - we do not have facilities to deal with these materials and it is not possible for them to be distinguished from other kinds of plastic.

Other materials to avoid putting out for collection include food waste, Japanese Knotweed and large branches or logs.

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How can I found out my collection day?

Contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk . Alternatively you can go to 'my house' on the council home page.

How often are the garden waste collections?

They are every fortnight.

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What happens to the collections during Bank Holidays?

Garden waste collections are not affected by Bank Holidays and will continue as normal. The only exceptions are Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. If your collections fall on these days you'll need to wait until your following collection day to have your garden waste collected.

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What should I do if my collection is missed?

Please make sure you have put your garden waste out at the right time and location and check whether the rest of your road has been collected.

Although the time of collection is broadly the same each week, we cannot guarantee this. It is important to make sure your garden waste is put out by 7am on the correct collection day.

If you need to report a missed collection, you must let us know by the end of the following working day in order for us to go back and collect it.

Any missed collections reported after this time will not be collected until your next scheduled collection.

If you need to report a missed collection or have any other problems or questions regarding your recycling service, please contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 or email councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk

What container should I use for my garden waste?

Garden waste must only be presented using the paper sacks or wheeled bin provided by the Council.  No other containers will be accepted.

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How can I purchase paper sacks or a wheeled bin service?

The wheeled bin service currently costs £27.05 per year (plus a one off charge of £2.65 for delivery of the bin).  Paper sacks cost £1.25 each.

To find out the options and details of local paper sack outlets, go to Garden Waste Collections or contact Council Connect on 01225 39 40 41 email: councilconnect@bathnes.gov.uk

More information on the garden waste collections can be found at Garden Waste Collections

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Home Composting

More information on home composting can be found at How to compost at home and Compost Bin Offer.

How do I compost?

Composting is very easy to do because it is a natural process that works with very little input.

The easiest way to compost is to buy a compost bin and add your garden waste and kitchen scraps to the compost bin.  Over time they will rot down and turn into compost.

To find out more about how to compost at home, go to How to compost at home.

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What if I'm having problems with my compost bin?

Most problems have easy solutions.  If your compost is too soggy, or nothing is happening or you have unwanted pests, you'll find advice to help you by going to How to compost at home.

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How do I know when my compost is ready?

It can take from 6 months to 2 years for your waste to turn into compost.  Once ready it should be dark brown, smell nice and earthy and look like normal soil. To find out more, go to How to compost at home.

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How can I find out more about wormeries?

Go to Wormeries

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Contact Details for this page:
Team:
Waste Services
Address:
Keynsham Town Hall, Temple Street, Keynsham, BS31 1ED
Phone:
01225 39 40 41
Fax:
01225 477809
Minicom:
01225 477309
Author:
Waste Services
 
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