Green/brown bin
Recycle your garden waste, kitchen waste and cardboard. Kitchen caddies and biodegradable liners are available to help.
What goes in my green/brown bins?
| Yes please | No thank you |
|---|---|
| Cereal Boxes (not the bags inside) and all other cardboard food packaging, e.g. sleeve from microwaveable trays, cardboard food boxes/tubes, etc. | Plastics (Food packaging, bottles, bags and plant pots etc) |
| Brown Cardboard (all polystyrene and sellotape from boxes removed) | Plastic Bin Liners |
| Egg Cartons | Polystyrene |
| Toilet/Kitchen Roll Centres | No waxed or plasticised cardboard, eg: Milk and fruit juice cartons, washing powder boxes, etc |
| All food scrapings/peelings from kitchen, including bones | Metals, tins and aerosols, tin foil, paint tins |
| Fruit and Vegetables | Telephone Directories and Magazines |
| Grass Cuttings | Treated wood, eg fence panels, painted doors/wood |
| Hedge Clippings | Disposable nappies |
| Prunings | Honey fungus |
| Weeds (except listed opposite) | Japanese knotween or any other 'notifiable' weeds such as ragwort |
| Leaves | Dog waste and cat litter |
| Plant materials | Glass |
| Tree Trunks and Branches up to 150mm (6ins) in diameter | Bricks, Stones, Cement |
| Dead Flowers | Soil, Turf with soil attached |
| Fungi (except honey fungus) | Ash, Hoover Bags, Dust |
| Fallen Garden Fruit (eg apples) | Clothing and Rags, Carpet |
| Bedding and waste from any vegetarian pet | Wire Fencing |
| Real Christmas Trees | Chemicals, eg weed killer containers |
| Horse Manure, Straw, Hay | Batteries |
Why cant I put certain items in the green/brown bin?
Cartons or powder boxes
Items such as juice cartons and washing powder boxes are NOT biodegradable because they often contain foil and plastic to prevent leakages and therefore dont break down in the compost. Also, juice cartons often contain plastic, which contaminates the compost. Washing powder boxes often contain powder remains, and are therefore not desirable either.
Juice cartons can now be recycled at several local neighbourhood recycling points.
Treated wood
Wood treatments increase the heavy metal content of the compost, which is not good for the final product. We cannot accept treated wood in the green/brown bins.
Magazines or large quantities of newspaper
Magazines contain shiny paper, which does not compost properly and so can't be accepted in the green/brown bin neither can telephone directories. Newspaper is fine in small amounts, e.g. to wrap food in, but is preferred in your blue boxes along with the magazines, as it gets recycled back into paper.
Garden waste can be used for composting at home or it can be put into your green/brown bin and collected fortnightly. This service now operates the whole year round.
What is a kitchen caddy and where can I get one?
Kitchen caddies are available to put your kitchen waste in before transferring to your green/brown bin. These can be picked up free of charge from the following locations:
- Civic Offices, Elstree Way, Borehamwood
- Potters Bar Area Office, next to Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar
- Bushey Area Office, Bushey Golf Club
- Aldenham Parish Council offices, Radlett Centre
These can be lined either with newspaper or Hertsmere biodegradable liners.
You can buy the rolls of 52 liners from your local Hertsmere leisure centre.
- The Venue, Borehamwood
- The Furzefield Centre, Potters Bar
- Wyllyotts Theatre, Potters Bar
- Bushey Grove Leisure Centre, Bushey
- Aldenham Parish Council offices in the Radlett Centre, Radlett
The rolls of liners are available from reception and priced at £2.50 each.
These liners are compliant with Hertsmere Borough Council's green/brown bin scheme. Other plastic bags, such as supermarket recyclable carrier bags or own brand compostable/degradable plastic bin liners will not be collected and will contaminate your green wheelie bin.
What happens to the waste in my green/brown bin?
All green/brown bin waste is taken to West London Composting in Uxbridge, Middlesex where it is treated by a process known as aerobic digestion and turned into a rich compost for horticultural use.
This takes place in an in-vessel facility. In-vessel composting is the only method accepted by DEFRA for processing waste containing food. This complies with the 2003 EU Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR), preventing birds and vermin gaining access and reducing the risk of spreading disease.