How is garden waste recycled?

At Oaklands we are concerned with being an ethical company and doing our bit to make sure we operate in as sustainable a way as possible.

As a tree surgeon and registered waste carriers for Harpenden, Borehamwood and St Albans, you know that we will recycle as much material from your garden as we can, and what we take away mostly comprises hedge and grass cuttings, small branches, weeds, flowers, and bark.

Green or garden waste

This gets taken to the recycling centre to be turned into compost. This process varies slightly depending on whether food or kitchen waste is composted with it, as the regulations regarding the way leftover food can be processed vary.

For simple garden waste the material is shredded and then left in the open to compost, which happens pretty quickly due to the heat generated by decomposition. Composting at this scale produces heat of up to 60%, which speeds up the process, and conveniently kills off weeds and plant diseases.

After around 10 weeks the substance is ready to be used as compost.

Trees
If we remove a tree or branches from your garden that are too big to be processed into compost there are other uses that could be made of this useful, natural material. These include:

Wood chips – for fuel or creating a soft surface, such as in playgrounds,

Laminates – wood can be processed into composite materials,

Compost – some wood is turned into mulch or compost, although the process is more intensive than for the green waste as above.

Soil and rubble Soil – top soil is very useful and can be reused for a variety of projects,

Rubble – materials such as concrete can be processed into aggregate and use in construction or surfacing.

So you know that if you are looking for a tree surgeon committed to waste reduction and reuse in Harpenden, St Albans, Borehamwood, Oaklands could be the right one for you.