Residents urged to compost any garden waste

RESIDENTS in Carmarthenshire are being urged to give home composting a go.

Garden waste such as leaves, twigs, grass cuttings and hedge trimmings can easily be composted at home.

Compost bins can be purchased from Carmarthenshire County Council for just £10 including delivery.

It is one of the most environmentally-friendly and cost-effective ways of dealing with green waste.

If residents cannot home compost, they can take their garden waste to one of the county’s five Household Waste Recycling Centre at Trostre (Llanelli), Wernddu (Ammanford), Nantycaws (Carmarthen), Whitland and Llangadog.

Garden waste bags can also be purchased from the council (£3.50 for 20) and can be placed out weekly for collection with their green food bin.

Residents are being reminded not to put any garden waste in black bags as this means it would end up in landfill. If any garden waste is found in black bags, the refuse/recycling crews have been instructed to not collect them, but to leave them behind.

Waste services manager Hywel Thomas said: “We are reminding residents about what they can do with their garden waste to make sure it does not end up in black bags. If it does, then they will not be collected. This has been council policy for a number of years.

“The council has targets to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to increase its recycling rate so it is vital that any garden waste we have does not go in black bags. The best way of dealing with this type of waste is to compost it at home. Alternatively residents can buy garden waste bags or take it to their nearest HWRC which means it will be taken to a central processing plant for composting.”

The bags are available for purchase from: Llandeilo council officers; Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford customer service centres; Trimsaran Leisure Centre; Kidwelly Town Council; Pembrey and Burry Port Town Council; Llandovery Post Office; Pontyberem Hall; Felinfoel Community Centre; Teifi Valley Garden Machinery in Drefach, Llandysul; Carmarthen Tourist Information Centre; the Discovery Centre in North Dock, Llanelli; Teifi Hall Gifts in Newcastle Emlyn; Tumble Hall and Kingswood Stores in St Clears.

For further information or to order a compost bin please call Carmarthenshire Direct on 01267 234567.