Organic or ‘green waste’ makes up about half of the household waste that is sent to landfill and consists of materials such as food waste (vegetable and fruit scraps) and garden waste (prunings, leaves, grass clippings). When green waste is sent to landfill, it breaks down anaerobically (without oxygen) to produce the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide that are known to contribute to global warming.
Much of the land used for landfill is also unusable at a later date because toxins and chemicals released during rubbish decomposition contaminate the soil. However landfill is not the only way to dispose of organic waste. A more environmentally sustainable approach to recycling green waste is through the process of composting.