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What can and can’t go in a garden waste bin

See a list of what can and can’t go in your garden waste bin.

What can go in your garden waste bin

✔️ branches no more than 10cm thick and 50cm long**
✔️ cut-up Christmas trees
✔️ fallen fruit** 
✔️ flowers 
✔️ hedge trimmings 
✔️ house flowers
✔️ leaves      
✔️ plants
✔️ twigs
✔️ weeds (except Japanese knotweed*, Rhododendron, Yew, Ragwort or Hemlock)   

* You cannot put any Japanese knotweed in any bin, compost it, or take it to the Reuse and Recycling Centre – you would be breaking laws controlling how this is dealt with and could be prosecuted. Japanese knotweed is harmful to the environment, extremely invasive and difficult to kill. For further details please see the Environment Agency’s advice about invasive plants.

** Please make sure that heavy items such as branches and fallen fruit only fill about one-third of the bin. This is for health and safety reasons when we lift the bin onto the trucks. We may not be able to empty your bin if it is too heavy.

What can’t go in your garden waste bin

               ❌ cat litter
               ❌ ceramics
               ❌ dog faeces
               ❌ flower pots
               ❌ food
               ❌ garden furniture
               ❌ gravel, rubble and stone
               ❌ hosepipes 
               ❌ household waste
               ❌ Japanese knotweed, Rhododendron, Yew, Ragwort, Hemlock or Allium Triquetrum
               ❌ nappies
               ❌ plastic (including trays, pots and bags)
               ❌ polystyrene
               ❌ potting mix
               ❌ soil
               ❌ timber