Sorting

Sorting for gardeners: where do you put garden products and garden waste?

 

The warm sunshine is here at last, so it’s time to get back to work in the garden. OK, it is just as likely to be raining as you read these words - this is Belgium, after all. However, once you do decide to dig out your gardening gear and start tending to your plants, you need to know how to sort all your gardening waste correctly.

1. Empty bags from tree bark, fertiliser, hydropellets, etc.: PMD

Empty plastic bags from potting compost, soil conditioners, tree bark, sawdust etc. These are all examples of the P in PMD: plastic packaging. So once the bags are empty, you can put them in the blue bag.

The only thing to watch out for with these bags is that you absolutely must not fill them with other PMD. At the PMD sorting centre, the contents of PMD bags are put on the sorting conveyor, where filled bags and their contents are not recognised by the machinery. Consequence: the filled bag is not recycled. 

Is the bag very large? If so, it's best to cut it down smaller, to a maximum of about one square metre. Then the pieces of plastic won't cause as much trouble in the sorting plant.
 

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2. Empty bottles and sprays used for pesticides, insecticides etc.: Small Hazardous Waste

Although these products come in plastic or metal spray cans, pesticide and insecticide packaging is never allowed in the blue bag. On the PMD sorting guide - which you can easily download here - you can see that some packaging is always banned from the PMD bag and has to go to the recycling centre. Examples are packaging used for herbicides or products to control aphids, spider mites, etc. Even if the spray or bottle does not have a warning symbol or safety cap, and even if it says 'eco' on the packaging: remember that empty insecticide and pesticide containers are ALWAYS small hazardous waste (in Brussels called small chemical waste). Put small hazardous waste to one side and take it with you on your next visit to the recycling centre.
 

3. Empty bottles of liquid fertiliser: PMD

Have you been feeding liquid fertiliser to your plants? Nice smell, isn’t it!  😉 Once the bottle is empty, it can go in the blue bag. This is because it does not have a child-safe press-and-twist cap, it does not display a warning symbol and it is not a pesticide or insecticide. So it goes in the PMD bag! Leaving the cap on the bottle is definitely recommended because of the smell  😉

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4. Flower pots: PMD

Bought some new herbs, flowers or other plants for your garden or patio? They probably came in a so-called grow pot. Gardeners don’t usually need these once the plant has gone into the garden. Did you know that these grow pots are packaging too? So they are allowed in the blue bag. Remember to sort things correctly so that recycling is possible. In this case, it is important not to stack multiple pots together. If you do, they may end up in the wrong waste stream at the sorting centre, and subsequently they won’t be recycled. This waste flow is separated from the rest using compressed air. When you stack grow pots, they are too heavy to be directed to the correct waste stream by means of compressed air. 

What about other plastic flower pots? 

Do you buy flower pots for your plants, even if they still stay in the grow pot? These outer pots are known as decorative pots and they are not packaging. So they cannot be sorted and recycled via the blue bag. You can take hard plastic decorative pots or flower pots made from other materials to the recycling centre.

5. Gloves, garden hoses, watering cans, spades etc.: residual waste or recycling centre

Remember: PMD stands for plastic packaging, metal packaging and drinks cartons. That means garden stuff that is not packaging does not belong in the blue bag. Examples include gloves, a broken garden hose, a plastic watering can, a spade, etc. Waste collectors sometimes even find inflatable swimming pools and plastic garden chairs in the blue bag. All these garden items, ornaments and furniture should be taken to the recycling centre. Better still: if they are still perfectly usable, give them away or sell them.

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6. Plants, potting compost etc.: check with the intermunicipal waste company that collects your waste.

Rules on garden waste do differ from one region to another. Some intermunicipal organisations offer garden waste collection as a separate stream, while other intermunicipal organisations ask you to bring garden waste to the recycling centre. So have a look at your intermunicipal organisation’s website.

So now it’s fingers crossed for a great spring and summer so you will have a chance to make your garden or patio just perfect!

Still not sure where a waste item goes? Type in the name of the item at the top of this page to find the right sorting instructions immediately!