In June 1994 East Herts District Council, North Herts District council, Herts County Council and Service Team started the first phase of the Hertfordshire Composting Project. This environmental partnership enabled the parties to work together, pooling resources whilst sharing experience and expertise.

The initial collection rounds covered 2,200 households in Ware. In the spring of 1996 the scheme was extended to a further 2,400 households in both Bishops Stortford and Hitchin. To accommodate this expansion, a new site was established at Cumberlow Green replacing the initial site at Bayfordbury. The partnership now incorporates Cumberlow Composting Services who are responsible for the site and the marketing of the final product. Composting has the potential to recycle approximately 30% of 425,000 tonnes of household waste currently being landfilled from Hertfordshire each year.

When CCS was formed, it operated under the waste management license held by Service Team.  A fixed cost per ton was paid to them. In 2002 we decided in order to give us greater control over the whole process to apply for our own licence.

The Enviromental Agency explained the requirements and with encouragement from North and East Herts councils we wrote the application. All our staff had to sit individual technical competence exams and assessments. In April 2003 we passed all tests and examinations (at the first attempt for everyone!!) and our own waste management licence was granted. 

In the last two years there have been increases in the number of collection rounds by North Herts council and more rounds are planned. We now (Feb 2005) compost garden waste collected from over 10,000 homes and have more than enough  capacity to accept a planned further 10,000 home collections. (all planning permissions already approved)

To avoid any lorry movements and thus disturbance through the nearby village half a mile away, we fitted our own weigh bridge in 2004 (at our own expense). This allows all collecting refuse lorries to come straight to our site without the need to visit a public weigh bridge on the way. Thus avoiding the need for any vehicles to travel through the local village on their way to us. All traffic reaches us along the A507, a good half mile from local village boundry markers.

The recent permitted increase in lorry movements, will not effect local villages in any way. It  certainly does not represent a 400% increase of lorries travelling through the village as recently reported in one local paper, as no vehicle delivering green waste to us, travelled through the village in the first place.