I thought you might be interested in this statement on Birch Airfield Composting website.
We are unable to accept the following toxic/invasive weed species:
- Ragwort (Senecio jacobae)
- Yew (Taxus baccata)
- Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
- Rhododendron (Rhododendron Ponticum)
- Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica)
I always understood that Ragwort, and Japanese Knotweed was a notifiable weed and had to be disposed of under strict conditions but I was unaware that Rhododendron and Yew were covered by these same rules (at least I am assuming that they are).
From the WRAP website: Fate of toxins in hemlock and yew during composting
From the NCBI website: Degradation of yew, ragwort and rhododendron toxins during composting
Further research on the WRAP website brings up a little more info on the dangers of including certain toxic plant material in green waste: http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/rhodenendren.pdf
I'm trying to track down specific rules/regulations/laws on what's not acceptable at green waste facilities. if anyone has any general info they'd like to share or info specific to local recycling centres then please pop it below.
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Yew is very dangerous to livestock - Basically pure death in a mouthful to sheep and cattle and horses... and in small amounts too. It only becomes palatable to them once its cut and started to wilt too....
Very difficult to dispose of honestly... Normally I compost it on site or for my veg patch - otherwise I cant hink of anywhere you can actually take it!"
Hi Phil,
I was under the impression that Ragwort had actually been removed from the list of notifiable weeds, but cannot seem to find anything about this happening! I have found this guide from Deathra, (sorry DEFRA!!) that gives some pretty good advice on Ragwort disposal.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_dat...
It is also worth mentioning that there are a few companies that actually buy clippings from yew hedges and trees providing that there is no growth older than a year old in them, ie. they only want young, green growth. They use them for extracting a chemical that is used in cancer drugs.
Not sure if this is the type of information that you were after, but I hope it helps!
Cheers Ollie
www.agrigem.co.uk
There used to be a site around Colchester that dealt with the disposal of invasive weeds. Unfortunately now EA website has removed their map with wastes sites and what they accept things will only become harder.
and yet there are no controls at household waste sites