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All the green garden waste that is brought into the County Council's Recycling Centres for Household Waste is turned into compost/soil improver and then offered for sale back to the public at all the Centres.
To buy this compost/soil improver, please speak to site staff.
The collected green garden waste is taken to one of a number of centralised composting facilities where it is turned into a high quality compost/soil improver by the same biological process that occurs in a garden compost heap.
The green garden waste is composted using the windrow process. This process involves shredding the organic waste and then arranging it into piles of approximately 3 metres high by 4 metres wide, and any length. A special machine runs up and down these windrows turning the green waste to ensure an even mixture, to provide aeration and to control temperature and moisture.
The scale at which the green waste is composted means that the temperature inside the windrows reaches between 50 and 60 degrees Centigrade. Temperatures remain at this level for several days in the thermophilic stage of composting. This heat produced by the natural decomposition process is sufficient to destroy most weed seeds and pathogens present. It also speeds up the time it takes for the compost/soil improver to be formed, approximately 12 - 14 weeks or more, depending on the environmental conditions.
Once the green waste has broken down it undergoes a screening process before it is bagged up ready for sale. The compost/soil improver is independently tested on a regular basis to make sure it complies with industry standards such as the APEX standard or the Composting Association's composting quality standards.
The compost/soil improver helps to improve soil drainage, texture, water retention and structure and is ideal for potting plants, hanging baskets, soil improvement and lawn treatment.
The compost/soil improver is sold at all of the County Council's Recycling Centres for Household Waste. Their addresses with postcodes, and how to get there are on our page Directions to the Centres.
Heatherland's Heathergreen is sold in 40 litre bags for £3.50 per bag at Centres in Chelmsford, Maldon, Witham, Braintree (Shalford), Saffron Walden, Colchester, Mersea Island, Lawford, St Osyth, Kirby le Soken, Clacton on Sea and Dovercourt; and
Veolia's (previously Cleanaway's) Organic Garden Compost is sold in 50 litre bags at £3.50 per bag at Centres in Harlow, Ongar, South Woodham Ferrers, Burnham on Crouch, Rayleigh, Canvey Island, Basildon, Mountnessing, Brentwood, Chigwell and Waltham Abbey.
To buy this compost/soil improver, please speak to site staff at any of the Centres.
If you've got too much garden waste to compost at home and your local council does not provide a collection service you can take it to your local Recycling Centre for Household Waste.
