The Tip

Our local Transfer station (recycling depot) is about 20 minutes away, in Welshpool, in the same town as we do our grocery shopping. We were very impressed with the level of granularity they go to in sorting recyclables as they are dropped off.

There are separate dumpsters and bins for carpets, lumber, metal, e-cigarettes, batteries, hard plastics, household plastics, small appliances, light bulbs cardboard, printer cartridges, furnishings and mattresses, etc, etc.

We had an assortment of things to get rid of, and of course had a lot of questions. When I asked what invasives were NOT permitted in the garden waste, the answer was 'diapers, plastics, etc'! I expected to be given a list of plants, such as Japanese knotweed, but I was told that people are too lazy or uninformed to be able to go to that level of detail. However, the facility sorts through the green waste Noxious weeds are removed and burned by the workers. The rest of the garden material is

 "taken to a composting facility in Carmarthenshire. Here it is shredded prior to undergoing 'open windrow' composting. This process involves mixing the shredded material and storing it in large open air bays. The material is turned periodically to aerate it and allow full breakdown throughout the load, and the process can take several months (typically around 16 weeks) to produce the final compost output." Powys Garden Waste

There is a 'Choose to Reuse' section in the facility. All items must be in proper working order and not in need of repair. Items are sold at low prices, they aren't free.