Garden Waste Recycling.
Our village scheme is entirely volunteer operated with around 20 volunteer residents taking part in a rota which provides a fortnightly collection service of garden waste from householders in the village that require the service. Residents join SHARK as members and are then entitled to have a reusable garden waste bag collected from their kerbside. Note that the service does not include the new housing development at present because of restrictions to our SEPA licence.
Johnshaven residents who wish to join the scheme are always welcome. The 2023 Form can be downloaded here.
For those of you involved in collections, the
Tractor Tips document is essential reading! Volunteers should also read the Compost Risk Assessment form, which was prepared in conjunction with Aberdeen Forward who ran the original village collections before SHARK took over.
2023 Collection Dates
March |
25 |
|
|
April |
8 |
22 |
|
May |
6 |
20 |
|
June |
3 |
17 |
|
July |
1 |
15 |
29 |
August |
12 |
26 |
|
September |
9 |
23 |
|
October |
7 |
21 |
|
November |
4 |
18 |
|
Happy Collectors...
Compost Management
This was how it used to be done, by hand! Polly the Tractor is now the main tool for managing compost. To see how this is done, go to the
Compost Turning page.
We can't sell our compost, because it hasn't got the necessary approvals. But we can give it away to a good home, and SHARK is always grateful for donations. Just ask!
History
The scheme initially ran as a pilot project with the support of Aberdeenshire Council and when this ended we decided it had become so popular we needed to maintain it for the benefit of residents and because it helped to reduce our collective community impact on waste going to landfill and our carbon output.
We initially struggled with the logistics of dealing with the material we collected (around 30 tons per year) but in 2010 we received a grant of £5,000 from Zero Waste Scotland to buy a compact tractor to help with the heavy workload involved. The tractor was delivered in early 2011 and with additional funding from the Lottery Fund we were also able to buy a trailer. This has greatly improved our collection capabilities, but has also in turn led to the need to make continuing improvements to the composting site, including the major project for 2013 which saw the road to the site resurfaced thanks to funds raised from a number of sources. These improvements are ongoing.