Thousands of people across the Tees Valley were encouraged to get their hands dirty and their fingers green last week as SITA UK gave away 50 tonnes of compost to celebrate Compost Awareness Week.
To say thank you to residents who regularly recycle garden waste and to highlight the many benefits of compost, leading recycling and resource management company SITA UK offered the free compost for collection at its Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Haverton Hill, near Billingham and almost 2000 residents took up the opportunity.
The theme for this year's Compost Awareness Week was Give it a Grow, so residents were encouraged to put their free compost to good use and give new composting activities a go in order to do their bit for the environment, as around 50 per cent of people have never tried using peat-free compost.
The compost is made from green waste from local back gardens and green biodegradable waste collected from households across the Tees Valley, which is transported to the SITA Haverton Hill composting facility for processing.
Jon Westwick, SITA UK Recycling Manager for the Tees Valley energy from waste facility, said: "It is obvious that there is a real enthusiasm for home composting in the Tees Valley, and it was great to see so many people turning up to claim their free compost.
"We work closely with residents and the local authorities to reduce, reuse and recycle as much of Tees Valley's waste as possible. Composting at home is one of the best ways to help the environment and create a useful natural resource. It can improve your garden, save you money and reduce our reliance on landfilling."
SITA UK works with local Stockton, Middlesbrough, and Redcar and Cleveland councils to handle their green waste. The company collects 24,000 tonnes of green waste from household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and through kerbside collections. This material is taken to the SITA composting facility at Haverton Hill, where it is turned into compost and sold to suppliers to the major retailers.