Green bin
Recycle your garden waste, food waste and cardboard.
IMPORTANT!
Please remove any sellotape/parcel tape from cardboard boxes and DO NOT put any other plastic in the green bin. This includes plastic bags, black sacks, plastic bottles, plastic packaging/wrapping, toys/games, plastic furniture, etc.
If these items end up at the composting facility then whole loads may be rejected and sent to landfill. This is very costly to the council (and ultimately to the taxpayer).
Hertsmere's compostable caddy liners can be used to contain food but they must have the Hertsmere logo on. No other liners will be accepted.
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The following can be put in your green bin:
Yes please
- Simple natural cardboard (no sellotape/parcel tape)
- Toilet/kitchen roll tubes
- Cereal boxes
- Cardboard egg boxes (with label removed if plastic sticker)
- Shredded paper/paper bags
- Grass cuttings, hedge/tree trimmings
- Leaves, plant material and small branches (no more than 6 inch diameter)
- Flower, fungi and fallen garden fruit
- Woody prunings/leaves
- Potted plants (without pots)
- Straw, hay and horse manure
- Bedding and faeces from vegetarian pets (e.g. shredded paper/straw/hay)
- Real Christmas trees (cut up)
- Food scrapings, peelings, leftovers including raw/cooked meat, fish, bones, bread and dairy
- Tea bags/coffee grounds
- Egg shells
The following must NOT go in the green bin:
No thanks
- Soil or soil with turf attached
- Bricks, stones, cement, ceramics including pots
- Cat litter or dog faeces
- Treated wood e.g. fence panels, painted doors, furniture, wicker baskets
- Plastic bags
- Black sacks
- Plastic furniture
- Plastic tubs, trays or other packaging
- Plastic plant pots
- Plastic wrapping
- Sellotape/parcel tape
- Wrapping paper
- Magazines
- Polystyrene
- Metal/cans
- Glass
- Cartons/Tetra Paks
- Washing powder boxes
- Textiles, clothing and shoes
- Duvets and pillows
- Carpet
- Dead animals
- Fire ash
- Hazardous waste e.g. garden chemicals, asbestos
-
Nappies
See 'Recycling Compostable Materials' leaflet for more information.
You could also try composting at home with our subsidised compost bins.
Contamination
Unfortunately, all these people got it wrong and these loads ended up at the composting facility. We don't want your compost to look like this:
The pictures below should reinforce the types of items that CANNOT go in the green bin.
Kitchen caddies, compostable bags and garden waste sacks
Kitchen caddies and Hertsmere's compostable liners can be used for collecting food waste in the kitchen. Excess garden waste can be put into garden waste sacks which are also available to buy. Please visit the highlighted pages for more information.
Collections
Please put your bin out as follows. See the collection calendar to find out which week it is.
Why can’t I put certain items in the green bin?
The contents of the green bin are composted and the final product spread on farmland. Because of the nature in which this waste is used it is extremely important that only the correct materials are put into the green bin.
In particular there is a problem with the amount of plastic that gets into the green bin and ends up in the end product. In more detail, here are some explanations as to why certain materials should not go in the green bin.
Sellotape/parcel tape
Cardboard boxes with any kind of sellotape, parcel tape or packaging tape on them should have the tape removed completely before being put in the green bin. This is because the tape is easily shredded in the process and ends up as very small parts in the final compost which are impossible to remove.
Cartons
Items such as juice cartons are NOT biodegradable because they often contain foil and plastic to prevent leakages and therefore don’t break down in the compost. However, cartons/Tetra Paks can be recycled in your brown bin.
Treated wood
Wood treatments, e.g. varnish/paint, increase the heavy metal content of the compost, which is not suitable for the final product.
Magazines or large quantities of newspaper
Magazines contain shiny paper, which does not compost properly and so can't be accepted in the green bin. Newspaper is fine in small amounts, e.g. to wrap food in, but is preferred in your blue box along with the magazines, as it gets recycled back into paper.
Disposable nappies
These contain plastic which does not degrade. Please put these in your black bin. Alternatively, consider using real nappies for which Hertsmere provide £50 cash back.
What happens to the green bin waste?
It is taken to Agrivert in South Mimms where it is treated by a process known as aerobic digestion and turned into a rich compost for horticultural use on local farmland in Hertfordshire.