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Is Garden Waste Different From Green Waste and is it OK to be placed in Skip Bins?

News > Is Garden Waste Different From Green Waste and is it OK to be placed in Skip Bins?

Garden wasteawaiting collection outside a household in Queensland

Yes we think Garden Waste is something different

There seems be some confusion about what Garden waste really is. This confusion probably stems from the fact that there are lots of different definitions of the term. Here are just a few

Garden Waste according to Wikipedia:

"Garden waste is the accumulated plant matter from gardening activities which involve cutting or removing vegetation, i.e. cutting the lawn, weed removal, hedge trimming or pruning consisting of lawn clippings. leaf matter, wood and soil".

Garden Waste according to NSW EPA:

Garden organics waste includes materials such as mulch, branches and lopped material, lawn clippings, tree trunks and stumps, leaves and unwanted plants.

Garden Waste according to a NSW Council:

Garden waste is any material from your garden including lawn clippings, prunings, plants, twigs, branches, leaves, soil, dirt and mulch.

Garden waste according to argumentative customer:

Yes there is another important definition of Garden Waste we hear a lot from difficult customers that is follows:

Garden waste is any material from your garden (literally) including old letter boxes, concrete footpaths, rocks, buried dog bones, concrete and bricks found when digging, childrens toys (also found in garden), lawn clippings, prunings, plants, twigs, branches, leaves, soil, dirt and mulch.

Council Green Wheelie Bins

This situation is made more complicated as many metropolitian city councils provide their residents with a green lidded bin (originally called a garden waste bin). Originally the Green Lidded bins were for just typical green waste (grass clippings, plant cuttings and weeds. Over time the purpose of the green wheelie bins has change on a council council by council basis. The purpose of the green wheelie bin is recycling the garden waste so it is not sent to landfill. In some areas the garden waste might be used create mulch or compost.

Garden organics bin

With the changing nature of maste management, garden waste and the garden waste bin are morphing into a bin that is for composting. In areas where this is the case the the bins can be used for garden waste as well as some types of food waste that can be composted. Now the bins are food and garden waste. The range organic material is growing (again depending on each councils rules). Arounds the world Organic waste now includes grass clippings, leaves and yard waste, fruit and vegetable scraps, grains, bread, coffee grounds, tea leaves, dairy, eggs, meat, bones, seafood, leftover food, and food-soiled paper such as coffee filters, pizza boxes, and paper napkins ot tissues.

household Garden Waste wheelie binsOrganic waste now includes grass clippings, leaves and yard waste, fruit and vegetable scraps, grains, bread, coffee grounds, tea leaves, dairy, eggs, meat, bones, seafood, leftover food, and food-soiled paper such as coffee filters, pizza boxes, and paper napkins ot tissues.

 

Green Waste Skip Bins

Skip bin companies offer green waste skip bins to provide a discounted way to dispose of plant materials that can be mulched and thus recycled. Thus by recycling the plant materials paying waste levies are avoided saving about a $150 a tonne on the disposal of the material. What is permitted in the green waste skip bin is determined by the recycling facility. Green waste skip can be used for only the following materials:

small branches, flowers, fruit, straw, wood chips, prunings, leaves, grass cuttings

It is important not to put any of the following in the bin as it will be treat differently and you could incurr additional costs:

Soil, Concrete, bricks, tree tunks, tree stumps

Skip bins are really convenient for getting rid of rubbish after a garden clean-up.  But great gardening gods, what needs to be considered when planning to get rid of gardening waste in a skip bin.

Not so Green Waste Contents in a Skip Bin
Not so Green Waste Contents in a Skip Bin

Well first up it is important to be clear what you really want to put in the skip bin. This is because gardening waste seems to mean many different things to different people. When you are thinking about hiring a skip bin for the weekends gardening activities what are you planning to do, cut down a tree, trim some bushes, cut the grass, weed the flower beds or just tidy up the mess left by the children, grand-children or hoard of wild party goers. I can hear some rumblings of disquiet among the gardeners, what can be so hard about what is going into the skip bin, isn't it obvious?  Well it seems it is not obvious, and here is why.


We are not aware of any skip bin companies that provide skip bins for "garden waste" because the term garden waste does not really fit any one sort of waste types exactly.  We recently had someone hire a Green waste skip bin in Sydney which incurred some additional costs for disposal when the contents of the bin were not green waste.  When I explained to them that the skip bin had been hired for green waste, they said that that was not the case and that they had hired the skip bin for garden waste.  I asked what the person thought garden waste was. Simple he said, it is anything out of the garden.  By coincidence I had been sent a picture and the skip bin did contain waste out of his garden but some of it was off the wall a bit and contained things like a metal mail box, cement bags, concrete etc.

From a waste or skip bin companies perspective, they think about the waste in terms or weight and recycling opportunities.  So they are thinking how heavy will the skip bin be? And will I be able to pick it up?  What will the cost of disposal of the contents be if the waste is heavy rather than light?  Are there recycling opportunities to lower the cost of disposal in the area or close by? 

The reason we have green waste bins is that there are quite a few areas, like the Central Coast, where it is possible to dispose of the waste as material that can be recycled via some sort of mulching process.  This usually means the disposal site is going to mulch or shred the waste so it can be used as a mulch or compost on gardens.  As a consequence this means the disposal costs are lower as there should be no waste levy collected on these recycled materials.

The green waste has to be just cuttings and clippings from pruning plants in the garden.  The disposal sites will not accept big tree branches, or stumps that are over 150 mm in diameter and the chippers, mulchers and shredders will not work on the larger chunks of wood.  Disposal sites also do not consider palm trees to be green waste and they wreck their mulchers and blunt the teeth.  This is also true of dirt and concrete, bricks and other heavy material.

Also in a few places the disposal sites do not permit that certain weeds or plants are placed in green waste bins and so we always recommend that you check the descriptions for the green waste skip bins to ensure the waste you have can be placed in the bin will be accepted with out incurring additional charges.

Garden Waste or Green WasteGreen Bins Are for Garden Waste?Green Bins can be used for green waste and other stuffToo much green waste for a wheelie bin so get a green skip bin

  • Authored By:Stephen Shergold
  • Updated:15/03/2023