Greenwaste

Greenwaste, also called garden waste or trimmings which include leaves, twigs, small branches, grass, and tree limbs, can be recycled by composting.

It saves you money and feeds your garden and you're helping to protect your environment by reducing waste to landfill.

Seven great reasons to compost

  1. Mulching in the open air doesn't produce methane, a serious greenhouse gas (green waste in landfills rots anaerobically, without oxygen, and this is what produces methane)
  2. Backyard burning of greenwaste is banned in urban areas
  3. It enriches our soils by increasing organic material
  4. It uses local resources instead of imported compost
  5. It reduces weeds by disposing of them safely and slowing any re-growth
  6. It provides local employment
  7. It extends the life of the landfills by reducing the volume of waste

Residents are encouraged to consider diverting greenwaste away from landfill. There are a range of commercial greenwaste options as well as a greenwaste drop off at the transfer station.

Helpful links

Council offers a $20 subsidy for home composting, available to all Nelson households. Find out more about home composting.

Greenwaste that doesn't compost

As much as we love our native flora, cabbage tree and flax leaves don't compost well and jam the mulcher, so please separate these from your garden waste for disposal in the greenwaste hopper at the Transfer Station.

Some garden pests are also not killed in the composting process and can lead to future contamination.

Get more information on which plants and pests should stay out of the compost bin.

And to make sure your garden waste isn't contaminated with anything else - plant material only please! Lawn clippings are usually OK unless you have ever used any CLOPYRALID sprays, marketed under several brand names, to kill broadleaf plants in your lawn. This spray is active for a very long time, and if it gets into the compost it will kill plants it is applied to.

Instead, use lawn clipping where you want to keep weeds down. If your greenwaste is going to be chipped, either at home or through the garden wasted hopper at the transfer station, to protect mulching blades please ensure only plant materials are included.

Disposing of greenwaste as rubbish

Find out more about general rubbish collection and transfer station charges.