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A tree-cycling scheme has seen more than 2,600 Christmas Firs turned into compost, raising £38,000 to support islanders with terminal and life-limiting illnesses in the process.
Jersey Hospice Care's annual initiative saw 40 volunteers, including individuals and businesses, get involved to collect the trees and shred them over three days last week.
More than 2,000 people had signed up by the cut-off time, whilst several others took advantage of drop-off chipping sites around the island over the weekend.
Chipping sites for the collection and recycling service were successfully put in place in 2020 in the east and west of the island, creating a more environmentally friendly collection service by reducing van journeys to and from La Collette and speeding up the collection process.
Video: IHE explains how the Christmas tree recycling scheme works.
For this year’s service, Hospice introduced a third site and invited islanders who missed the deadline for registration to drop their tree to the closest chipping site for a minimum donation of £10.
The Christmas Tree Collection and Recycling service is the first fundraiser of the year for the charity and every donation directly supports the ongoing provision of personalised care to people in the community.
“A huge thank you to everyone involved in the 2022 collection service, everyone who made a donation and signed up, our volunteers, the Green Waste Site at La Collette, and the various individuals and businesses who supported us,” Event Co-Ordinator, Scott Douglas, said.
The Government's Infrastructure, Housing and Environment Department once again supported Jersey Hospice Care by receiving their collections of real Christmas trees for composting.
Deliveries are checked for contaminants such as plastic bags or leftover decorations to ensure there is no general waste or invasive plants in the material.
Once sufficient material has been deposited, it is combined with commercially delivered green waste. The first stage of processing involves shredding the green waste to reduce it to a uniform size.
Pictured: Trees being chipped in 2021.
The shredded waste is then placed into long stockpiles know as “windrows” to allow the natural process of composting to take place. During this stage the temperature of the windrow is continuously monitored, to ensure an even temperature of 65 degrees. The rows are mechanically turned to maintain the optimum temperature.
After four to 12 weeks the compost is put through a screening process which uses vibrating plates to remove inert non compostable material and any large items of green waste that has not fully broken down during composting.
The finished product is a high-grade soil improver that is used throughout the island in both agricultural and horticultural applications.
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