Arsenic-tainted timber too toxic for composting

People putting timber off-cuts and sawdust in their green wheelie bins are causing problems at the city’s organics processing plant.

That is because some treated timber contains high concentrations of arsenic - a toxic chemical which cannot be broken down.

If the food scraps and garden waste that make up most of the organic material deposited in the green wheelie bin gets contaminated with arsenic, they cannot be processed into quality compost because the end product will contain too many toxins.

“It only takes a small 4cm piece of fence paling to contaminate a 10-litre bin so it’s really important that if you have treated timber you want to dispose of that you put it in the red bin, not the green bin,’’ says Christchurch City Council Solid Waste Manager Ross Trotter.

Ash from burnt timber, once cold, should also be bagged and placed in the red bin, not the green bin.

To find out more watch the video below or check the rubbish and recycling information on the Council's website.