Donations help to grow community composting projects
IPL UK is donating £1,000 to garden waste community composting projects in Johnshaven and Tarland as part of Aberdeenshire Council’s contract and tendering process.
Community composting helps residents to manage their waste efficiently while producing high-quality compost for use in local growing projects.
Bin and container manufacturer IPL UK was contracted to supply and recycle when Aberdeenshire Council replaced more than 77,000 end-of-life wheelie bins.
Aberdeenshire Council encourages sustainable community action through its tendering processes, with bidders for contracts being asked how their organisation will assist the authority in furthering its sustainability or community objectives.
IPL UK chose to donate £500 of funding to both the Tarland Community Composting Project and the Johnshaven SHARK Community Composting Project as part of its sustainability and community benefits agreement with the council.
The award-winning community composting project in Tarland supplies large garden waste bags to members for an annual fee. The waste is then collected from the kerbside, or a designated area, on 15 pre-arranged fortnightly dates from April to November. A small tractor and trailer operated by local volunteers from the Tarland Development Group are used to collect and transport the waste.
The Tarland community composting project hopes to use the money to improve how it sieves and bags the compost to make it easier for community members to use.
The popular Johnshaven community composting scheme began as a pilot project in 2012 with support from the council-funded Aberdeen Forward. Now run by an environmental group local to the village—SHARK—it provides a fortnightly collection service of garden waste. Residents can join SHARK as members for a small fee and then have a reusable garden waste bag or bags collected from their kerbside.
Villagers and other members of the public can access the compost for a donation. SHARK will be putting the new funding towards new tools and remedial works on their container.
Both projects are interested in hearing from volunteers and residents looking to support or join their schemes.
If you are interested in setting up a community composting project in your area, Zero Waste Scotland, in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council, has developed a comprehensive guide for communities and organisations to help get local composting projects up and running: https://aberdeenshirecompost.scot
Chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee Councillor John Crawley said: “These projects are great examples of what can be accomplished when people come together to make a difference. I’d encourage anyone with an interest in reducing their green waste to learn from these schemes and get involved in their own community composting projects.”
Vice-chair Councillor Isobel Davidson added: “As well as being a fantastic way to bring communities together around a common goal, community composting projects are a great way to educate the public about the importance of composting and the benefits it can provide. Thank you to IPL UK for choosing these worthy projects to highlight through their donation.”
IPL Divisional Manager (Environmental Containers) Kial Horton says: “As an organization deeply committed to fostering positive change, we take great pride and delight in supporting community composting projects. Through our charitable donations, we empower these initiatives to bloom, nurturing a sustainable future for all. It is truly inspiring to witness the power of community and people coming together, united by a shared vision of environmental stewardship.”
You can learn more about IPL UK on their website: www.iplglobal.com