What are Garden Organics?

Garden organics (or green waste) include:

• Lawn clippings
• Tree and shrub prunings
• Dead flowers
• Weeds
• Discarded plants
• Leaf debris
• Small branches
  
  They are a renewable resource that can be recycled and made into mulch or compost.
  
  What about timber?
  Timber comes in two forms - untreated and treated.
  • Untreated timber includes unpainted timber palings, pallets and logs and can be used in mulching and composting.
  • Treated timber includes painted timber palings and logs and products that have been treated with chemicals to discourage termites, such as treated pine. It cannot be used for composting or mulching. Contact your council to find out what to do with any waste timber you have.
    
    What about palm trees and fronds
    Palms and palm fronds have a very high fibre content, which means they have to be processed several times in order to be used for compost.  For this reason, palms and palms fronds are usually processed separately to other garden organics.
    
    What happens to the Garden Organics we put out for collection?
    
    Step 1 - Decontamination
    Each load of organics that arrives at a composting facility is opened and the contaminants are removed manually. Contamination can include steel, bricks and concrete that may damage processing equipment, garbage wastes that cause odour problems, and plastics that can affect the quality of the final products.
    
    Step 2 - Sorting
    This process only occurs for garden organics that are collected from the kerb side tied in bundles. For garden organics collected in wheelie bins, only step 1 and step 3 apply.
    
    Garden organics are sorted into two piles:
    • Pile One contains wood waste, such as logs, stumps, branches, softwood pallets and furniture off-cuts. This is shredded, screened into at least three different sizes, then stockpiled and sold as timber mulch.
    • Pile Two contains any other garden organic material such as tree and shrub pruning's, flowers, leaves, lawn clippings, weeds etc. This material is ground up and shredded into even smaller pieces.
      
      Step 3 - Composting
      The garden organics are shredded into small pieces of organic material, which are then piled into windrows, which are mounds between 2 - 4.5m high and 10-80m long. The windrows are kept moist and turned regularly over a period of 16-20 weeks. The turning lets oxygen in, helps microscopic bugs to break down the material, and generates heat (between 50 - 70 degrees celsius). The high temperatures kill weed seeds and any disease-causing agents.
      
      Facts
      
      Composting
      • Increases organic matter, nutrient and water-holding capacity in the soil.
      • Introduces larger particles that let air and water pass through the soil.
      • Encourages beneficial bugs in the soil.
        
        Mulching
        • Helps reduce moisture loss and evaporation.
        • Acts as a weed suppressant.
        • Regulates soil temperature by providing insulation.
        • Breaks down over time to provide organic matter content to the soil.
          
          Recycling Tips - Sort it, check it, keep it clean
          • Don't put treated timber, or timber with metal fixtures into any garden organics collection.
          • Don't put garden organics into plastic bags.
          • Check with your local council about the size restrictions for branches.
          • General rubbish such as plastics, plastic bags and disposable nappies and discarded gardening tools such as hoses, terracotta pots and plastic tubs should go into the garbage bin.
            
            NSW Garden Organics Recycling
            In NSW in 2006 around 770 000 tonnes of garden organics were collected from kerbside for recycling  
            
            Close the Loop and Buy It Back!
            There's no point in recycling if we don't buy products made from recycled materials. So the next time you're looking for products to help your garden grow and improve the soil, choose compost and mulch that meet Australian Standards. Taking the time to improve your soil will help produce healthier plants, and should help to cut down or eliminate the need for chemical sprays and preparations.
            
            
            Sources:
            WSN Environmental Solutions
            
            NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change
            
            Recycled Organics Unit UNSW