The wrong kind of waste hampers composting

from Sunday Herald, 04 May 2008

One in ten of the wheelie bins collected for composting end up being dumped on landfill sites because they are contaminated with the wrong kind of waste.

The latest figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reveal that nearly 33,000 tonnes of waste collected for composting by local authorities were disposed of as landfill in 2005-06.

According to SEPA and local councils, this is because the waste is contaminated with plastic, tree trunks and other items that can’t be composted. They are urging members of the public to be more careful about what they put in organic bins.

This week has been designated ‘compost awareness week’ to help encourage people to do more to compost their waste. Compost bins for the back garden and kitchen can be ordered for as little as £6.

Every year Scotland produces about 900,000 tonnes of kitchen and garden waste. In 2005-06 nearly 320,000 tonnes was collected for composting by local councils, three times more than in 2003-04.

According to SEPA, contaminants had to be removed to ensure that the waste could be made into good quality composts to fertilise farms, sports fields and golfing greens.

“Local authorities are working hard with the public to ensure that the amount of contamination introduced into organic waste collections is minimised but this requires the co-operation of the public,” said a SEPA spokeswoman.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) urged householders to carefully follow their councils’ advice on disposing of green waste. “Every effort is made by councils to ensure that the majority of green waste can be composted, however it is hard to avoid a small level of contamination,” said a COSLA spokesman.

The Scottish branch of the Composting Association, which represents companies, suggested that the amount of waste collected for composting may sometimes also have outstripped available treatment facilities.

“A significant amount of time and money has been spent procuring new composting and mechanical biological treatment facilities”, said the branch’s chairman, Professor Kevan Gartland.

The environmental group, WWF Scotland, urged improvements to be made in the Scotland’s composting performance. “It is disappointing that some of the waste collected for composting ends up dumped in landfills as a result of contamination,” said the group’s acting director, Dr Dan Barlow.

The Scottish government accepted that contaminated waste had been thrown away instead of being composted. “To reduce this happening in the future we would urge householders to check their guidance on what can and can't be recycled or composted,” said a government spokesman.