General Waste and Landfill FAQs

Q) What is a landfill?

A) A landfill (sometimes referred to as a dump or tip) is a site where waste is disposed of.

Q) How much of landfill is actually ‘waste’? 

A) On average, only 37% of the contents of red-lid general waste bins is classified as ‘waste’, as it is not accepted in either of the yellow-lid recycling or green-lid garden organics bins.  This means that almost two-thirds of materials should never have been sent to landfill!

22% of materials are found to be recyclables (bottles, cans, paper and cardboard), which should have gone in the yellow-lid recycling bin to be made into new, valuable products.

41% are organics, which should have been placed in the garden organics bin (grass clippings, leaves etc.) or could have been recycled using worm farms, compost bins or chickens (food waste) to create free, natural fertiliser products that improve the health, resilience and beauty of gardens.