In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?



my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free at the
local dump.

Seems a completely illogical excuse to me. If its being spread on farmers
fields surely theyd have to have it tested for F&M by that reasononing
(farmers....), if that was true which I bet it isnt.

--
email replies not necessary but to contact use;

tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?



my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free at the
local dump.


Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(

"Just Molly" wrote in message
news:EM0Dc.73$6r.53@newsfe2-win...

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?



my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free at the
local dump.


Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(


Ours does it for £1 a bag (covers cost of bags and a token sum I think).

On the F&M thing - surely farmers using it over vast expanses of land are
*more* likely to spread F&M if that's the worry - smacks of nonsense to me.

--Poppy

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take
it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love
to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?

My council, North Yorkshire CC, sells such compost at a number of
sites at £2.50 per 50 litre bag. This is the first season I am trying
it, so I cannot really comment except to say that it is really
thoroughly composted with a nice friable texture. I am trying itout
as a mulch, to be gradually hoed in as the season progresses.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take
it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really love
to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done? And
if so, what's the logic?

My council, North Yorkshire CC, sells such compost at a number of
sites at £2.50 per 50 litre bag. This is the first season I am trying
it, so I cannot really comment except to say that it is really
thoroughly composted with a nice friable texture. I am trying itout
as a mulch, to be gradually hoed in as the season progresses.

I think more ppl would buy ours if it were not so expensive :0(

"Just Molly" wrote in message
news:EM0Dc.73$6r.53@newsfe2-win...

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall)
has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They
take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But
it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the
public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they
have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had
any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really
love to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean
that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it
too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why
garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried
about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done?
And
if so, what's the logic?



my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free
at the
local dump.


Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(

If that is less than 100 litres you ought to tell them they are
ripping you off.

Franz

"Just Molly" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall)
has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They
take
it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But
it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the
public
(spread on a nearby farmer's fields, I believe, with whom they
have
some sort of arrangement). When I rang them to ask if they had
any
plans to bag and sell it, they replied that they would really
love
to,
but new regulations from DEFRA relating to foot-and-mouth mean
that
they would have to get it all regularly tested, which makes it
too
expensive to justify (tested for F&M presumably, although why
garden
waste should carry it is beyond me! Perhaps DEFRA are worried
about
animal contamination).

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do? Is this
testing thing just an excuse, or does it really have to be done?
And
if so, what's the logic?

My council, North Yorkshire CC, sells such compost at a number of
sites at £2.50 per 50 litre bag. This is the first season I am
trying
it, so I cannot really comment except to say that it is really
thoroughly composted with a nice friable texture. I am trying
itout
as a mulch, to be gradually hoed in as the season progresses.

I think more ppl would buy ours if it were not so expensive :0(

I think you should get yourlocal paper to point out prominently that
they are ripping you off in comparison with the other Councils
mentioned in urg. If the paper would be brave enough to suggest that
the householders should boycott the stuff until the price is
reasonable, they will come to theit senses quite quickly, since they
have already incurred the cost of setting up thr composting plant and
producing the compost. Could you find out if there is a neighbouring
council from which you could threaten to buy your compost?

Franz

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free
at the
local dump.


Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(

If that is less than 100 litres you ought to tell them they are
ripping you off.

Maybe they aren't ripping anyone off; just being realistic.

£5 might reflect the actual cost of council collection, storage,
processing, labour and packaging costs of turning household waste into
compost. Councils that "give it away to the public for free", also face
production costs. There's no such thing as a free lunch, even for
plants. When councils give anything away free or at a knockdown price,
council tax payers are funding that "generosity". Read your council's
annual accounts, you might get a nasty shock to see where some of your
money was spent, or "given".

Our council (North Ayshire) uses their mainland public's composted
green waste in the gardens it manages in schools, parks, public gardens
and care homes etc.

Janet.

"Chris Hogg" wrote
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do?

My council (Macclesfield) gives you a voucher every time you take garden
waste to the tip. When you have 5 vouchers, you can exchange them for a free
(20litre??) bag of compost. The only problem with this method is that they
give you 1 voucher for any quantity of garden waste, so it's very tempting
to take garden waste to the tip in small amounts in order to get lots of
vouchers.

Choccie

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains
these words:

my council composts garden waste and makes it available for
free
at the
local dump.


Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(

If that is less than 100 litres you ought to tell them they are
ripping you off.

Maybe they aren't ripping anyone off; just being realistic.

£5 might reflect the actual cost of council collection, storage,

We have already all paid for this in our garbage collection levy.
We also have already paid for what would otherwise have been the
labour cost of transporting it to, and manipulating it at an
incinerator or a landfill site.

processing, labour and packaging costs of turning household waste
into
compost. Councils that "give it away to the public for free", also
face
production costs.

Of course. But don't you find it an odd coincidence that they sell
for prices in the same ballpark as normal peat-based potting composts?
I call that charging what the market will bear.
Donkeys years ago, in the sixties, the local council produced compost
from household waste at Leatherhead at a price which was (quoting
from memory) about a quarter of the price of commercial composts.
They only stopped after a few years because of fears of spreading
disease and glass slivers, since they composted all household waste,
and not only garden waste. (Damn good stuff it was,too.)

There's no such thing as a free lunch, even for
plants. When councils give anything away free or at a knockdown
price,
council tax payers are funding that "generosity". Read your
council's
annual accounts, you might get a nasty shock to see where some of
your
money was spent, or "given".

Our council (North Ayshire) uses their mainland public's composted
green waste in the gardens it manages in schools, parks, public
gardens
and care homes etc.

Franz

"Choc-brain" wrote in message
...
"Chris Hogg" wrote
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take
it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But
it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the
public

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do?

My council (Macclesfield) gives you a voucher every time you take
garden
waste to the tip. When you have 5 vouchers, you can exchange them
for a free
(20litre??) bag of compost. The only problem with this method is
that they
give you 1 voucher for any quantity of garden waste, so it's very
tempting
to take garden waste to the tip in small amounts in order to get
lots of
vouchers.

Running a car costs a non negligible fraction of a £ per mile

Franz

On 6/26/04 1:34 PM, in article ,
"Choc-brain" wrote:

"Chris Hogg" wrote
In recent years, our local council (Kerrier, in west Cornwall) has
been taking garden waste at local waste recycling sites. They take it
away to a central depot where it's shredded and composted. But it's
disposed of locally, rather than being made available to the public

I'm amazed and disappointed. What do other councils do?

My council (Macclesfield) gives you a voucher every time you take garden
waste to the tip. When you have 5 vouchers, you can exchange them for a free
(20litre??) bag of compost. The only problem with this method is that they
give you 1 voucher for any quantity of garden waste, so it's very tempting
to take garden waste to the tip in small amounts in order to get lots of
vouchers.

Choccie


Interesting! It would seem that your council needs to pay more attention to
detail. Do they get paid for being on council??
My thinking is that if you should bring more then you get more vouchers. But
then there may be problems at their end that you need to find out about.
Otherwise just follow the rules...or you could just compost it yourself.
It's not that difficult and you could add 'other' stuff that you wouldn't
send to the tip and increases the power of your compost for plants. Your
plants will love you.
Gary

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004 18:56:33 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from "Franz Heymann" contains these words:

my council composts garden waste and makes it available for free
at the local dump.

Mine sells it for £5 a bag :0(

If that is less than 100 litres you ought to tell them they are
ripping you off.

Maybe they aren't ripping anyone off; just being realistic.

£5 might reflect the actual cost of council collection, storage,
processing, labour and packaging costs of turning household waste into
compost.

This overlooks one of the important reasons municipalities have
set up garden waste composting: to keep such waste out of
landfills (or wherever the garbage goes). So in calculating
"actual cost", a discount is required to reflect this benefit.


--
Rodger Whitlock, Victoria, BC, Canada

"Listening to the [Opus Clavicembalisticum] is much like
Mussolini is alleged to have reported about governing
the Italians: it's not impossible, just POINTLESS."

----Jeffrey Friedman, 2004/06/24

We have already all paid for this in our garbage collection levy.
We also have already paid for what would otherwise have been the
labour cost of transporting it to, and manipulating it at an
incinerator or a landfill site.

We have garden waste bins now. They are provided by the council
(Oldham) and collected every fortnight. No idea what they do with it
but the idea was to separate it from the waste in the black bins. So..
we now have plastic bags for paper, green bins, black bins and a black
box for plastic and tins.
Diana