Green Waste Recycling and the benefits of Compost

Arbor Cura recycles 100% of all the green waste produced from tree surgery operations.

The EU Landfill Directive is driving local authorities to reduce biodegradable waste input into landfill. This is because when green waste decomposes (or rots) in a landfill site, it produces methane, which is a dangerous 'greenhouse' gas. It also produces chemicals, called leachates, which can pollute the local land and water.

Arbor Cura processes the leaves, twigs, and branches (brash or brush) at a number of local green waste recycling centres (for more information visit these links www.olus.co.uk/and www.brighton-compost.coop/). Here the material is transformed into a high quality organic soil conditioner that can be purchased and used in your garden. This nutrient rich compost is of benefit to your garden for a number of reasons:

• Improves the soil structure, porosity, and density, thus creating a better plant root environment and making the soil easier to work.
• Increases moisture infiltration and permeability of heavy soils, thus reducing erosion and runoff.
• Improves water-holding capacity, thus reducing water loss and leaching in sandy soils.
• Supplies a variety of macro and micronutrients.
• May control or suppress certain soil-borne plant pathogens.
• Supplies significant quantities of organic matter.
• Compost can hold nutrients tightly enough to prevent them from washing out, but loosely enough so plants can take them up as needed.
• Supplies beneficial micro-organisms to soils and growing media.
• Improves and stabilises soil pH.
• An exciting new use for compost is bioremediation. Many things can contaminate surface waters and soils. The micro-organisms in compost can break down these contaminants and transform them into humus and inert by-products such as carbon dioxide, water and salts.

Cordwood and Logs

At Arbor Cura the larger branches (cordwood) and logs are split and used as firewood ideal for wood burning stoves or open fires. If the timber is unsuitable for burning, the logs are broken down and processed at the green waste recycling centres as previously mentioned.

For more information about logs and other tree-related matters, visit
www.the-tree.org.uk/