Garden waste club

• Grass cuttings
• Hedge and shrub clippings
• Leaves, twigs and bark
• Plants, flowers and weeds
• Small branches
• Windfall fruit

No. Food waste (peelings, cooked food, etc.) must not be put into the brown bin. This is a legal restriction, introduced after the BSE crisis, to prevent the spreading of bacteria. As garden waste is composted in the open air, contamination from kitchen and animal waste can cause widespread distribution of bacteria, leading to viral outbreaks such as BSE (mad cow disease) and Foot-and-Mouth disease.

Kitchen waste should be put into your kitchen caddy, and you can also compost uncooked food waste at home.

No, animal waste (faeces, bedding, etc.) must not be put into the brown bin, for the reason explained above. Double-bag dog and cat waste and put into your green wheeled bin. Bedding and waste from vegetarian pets can be composted at home.

Soil attached to roots is not a problem, but large amounts of soil make the brown bin extremely heavy, making it impossible to empty the bin.

No. Plastic and earthenware pots cannot be composted. Sprinkle old compost from growbags onto your lawn, or around the shrubs.

The odour is part of the natural process of decomposition. Do not put disinfectant or synthetic insecticides in the brown bin, as this will interfere with the natural composting process.

No, please do not put any type of bag or sack in the bin. The collection and composting process is fully automated, and there is no opportunity for the crew to open plastic sacks.

The garden waste collected by Tewkesbury Borough Council and at Wingmoor Farm Household Recycling Centre is processed using a method called Open Windrow Composting at the Enovert operated site situated next to the HRC at Wingmoor Farm near Bishops Cleeve.

This process takes place and in the open and starts with shredding the garden waste and placing it in long heaps called windrows. Over about 10 weeks, these windrows are continuously turned and this helps to add air and convert the waste into compost. About a third is used on site to help restore areas that have been filled with landfill waste, and the remainder is sold in bulk to farmers who collect the compost for use on their fields.