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FAQs about garden waste
Why can't I put garden waste out with my normal rubbsh?
Garden waste is not collected as part of the normal refuse collection service. The refuse crews will not collect refuse sacks containing garden waste. Residents will need to find alternative ways to dispose of their garden waste themselves - such as composting it at home or taking it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Port Solent.
The best way to dispose of garden waste is to compost it - nature’s way of recycling. Composting garden waste allows it rot down naturally and turns it into compost - a fertile soil you can use around the garden.
Doesn’t the council have to collect all my waste?
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out the local authority’s (i.e. Portsmouth City Council’s) obligation to collect household waste. However, the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 classify garden waste as a type of household waste for which a charge can be made for collection.This means that the Council only has to collect your garden waste if you request and pay for a collection.
What do I do with my garden waste?
Compost it in your garden
The best thing you can do with garden waste is compost it at home. This is the best option environmentally and you get the added bonus of a lovely fertile garden!
Take it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre at Port Solent
If you can’t compost at home, you can take your garden waste to the Port Solent Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC).
What happens to the garden waste I take to the HWRC?
It is taken to a large scale composting facility in Down End, Fareham and is mechanically composted. The result is ProGrow, the Soil Association approved soil conditioner, which you can purchase by the bag from the HWRC.
Why isn’t the Council providing a garden waste collection / composting service?
For garden waste to be collected for composting extra vehicles and crew would be needed in addition to the refuse and recycling vehicles. This would be extremely expensive and is likely to encourage a lot more extra material into the waste stream for costly processing. It’s also likely to have only a small amount of users, as Portsmouth is an urban city that produces a comparatively small amount of garden waste. It’s far better for the environment to deal with garden waste at the source (i.e. in the garden) rather than take it away for centralised composting.
My rubbish hasn’t been collected and has been left with a green sticker - what do I do?
Refuse crews will not collect sacks containing garden waste. Sacks suspected of containing garden waste will be left. If this is the case thethey will leave and affix a sticker to any sacks that contain garden waste. If this has happened to one of your rubbish sacks you need to remove it from the highway and dispose of your garden waste yourself, either by composting it at home, taking it to the HWRC or by purchasing PCC special garden waste sacks. Any regular rubbish will then need to be re-bagged and stored on your property until your next collection, or you can take it to the HWRC.
What happens to sacks containing garden waste left on the highway?
If sacks containing garden waste have been left out after collection it’s the responsibility of the owners to remove and dispose of them. If sacks sit out unclaimed please contact the City Help Desk and we’ll arrange for a Waste Liaison Officer to investigate.
What can I do with “woody” garden waste?
Some garden wastes, such as woody hedge clippings, are less easy to compost than materials like grass. However, once shredded these make a fantastic weed reducing and water retaining mulch. You can hire or buy small garden shredders from many local DIY stores (look in the Yellow Pages). You can also take all woody garden wastes to the Port Solent Recycling Centre, where it will then be is shredded and then composted into “Pro Grow” which is available for just £2.30 per bag.
