Kew Gardens - Waste Management

I recently benefitted from a very interesting and informative talk by David Barnes, the Manager of Horticultural Support at Kew Gardens. The talk gave me a fascinating insight into the management of the gardens.

Waste management is a key element of the life of Kew Gardens. The combination of the production of over 100 tonnes of waste plant material with a sustainability commitment to recycle 99% of organic waste clearly creates a great challenge.

All of this plant waste is managed through the process of composting. There material is composted via one of two routes:

1) Woody Material: shredded and screened - wood chips mixed 4:1 with the manure - water added and heap turned - 8 weeks - used in the garden as surface mulch

2) Herbaceous materials: shredded - mixed 1:1 with manure - 6 weeks -soil conditioner

Waste management at Kew is a good example of sustainable and efficient managment. In addition to the clear horticultural and evironmental benefits this scheme also saves Kew a great deal of money. David Barnes also indicated the desire to extend the scheme in a variety of directions For example, due to the very high temperatures generated during the composting process he indicated that pipes could be heated by running them under the heaps. All in all it was a pleasant trip and a very interesting day.