Correct waste disposal

The disposal of waste materials from cannabis growing is something that does not easily go unnoticed among “right-minded” persons and implies the risk of being caught in the act. Generally, waste bins or recycling yards are used for waste disposal. A few delicate materials are likely to raise suspicions, but need to be to disposed of by growers. These include sodium vapour lamps, activated carbon filters, mineral wool mats, earth mixed with leaves etc. Normally refuse collectors and recycling-yard staff are not interested in what type of waste is brought to them. What counts to them is that everything ends up in the right bin.

The disposal of waste materials from cannabis growing is something that does not easily go unnoticed among “right-minded” persons and implies the risk of being caught in the act. Generally, waste bins or recycling yards are used for waste disposal. A few delicate materials are likely to raise suspicions, but need to be to disposed of by growers. These include sodium vapour lamps, activated carbon filters, mineral wool mats, earth mixed with leaves etc. Normally refuse collectors and recycling-yard staff are not interested in what type of waste is brought to them. What counts to them is that everything ends up in the right bin.

However, there are also “diligent” citizens who may note down the car registration number when they see someone disposing of an activated carbon filter and then report it to the police. The officers will then take a look at the waste bin and rummage in the waste. In so doing, the officers may collect sufficient evidence for a judge to authorise a house search. If someone has disposed of an activated carbon filter, there will still be empty paper packs and waste from emptied ashtrays in domestic waste. Next, it could be obvious for the officer to request the power supply company to report how much power was consumed. When such consumption is noticeably high, then it will be up to the judge to decide whether this a sufficient ground for a house search.

How to dispose of activated carbon filters

In recycling yards, activated carbon filters are considered a delicate issue, as these are used in automotive paint finishing systems and should consequently be disposed of in a special way. This however can be simply accomplished by disassembling the filter. The activated carbon or carbon matt can be divided for it to be gradually dumped with domestic waste. Similarly, metal or plastic housings can be folded up and dismantled with domestic waste, in addition, they can also be disposed of in a recycling yard. Who fears inquisitive officers should throw everything into a waste bin on a waste-collection day, or even drive to the large block of flats where refuse containers are stored and throw waste there on a waste-collection day. This is also the case for all other types of waste such as mineral wool mats. If these are put into non-transparent waste bags and placed into residual waste-bins, nobody would be able to tell who from that block may have disposed of it.

Lamp disposal

Lamps are disposed of in recycling yards, as they do not fall in the class of residual waste. But suspicions could be raised among ‘diligent’ citizens. The question then arises whether someone of your acquaintances may take the trouble to dispose of the waste. This is of course only possible if he has nothing to fear. Otherwise you may go to a grow shop and ask them to dispose of your waste. The grow shop is a business and, as such, has to dispose of its waste in an industrial waste collection centre against payment of a fee. This means that you should refund the grow shop of this cost. The disposal of a sodium vapour lamp, for instance, costs three euros.

Earth disposal

Why should earth be disposed of, if it is good humus for each wood, each meadow and each field? This is quite simple: if someone drives to a wood with a full waste bag and returns with an empty bag, a diligent citizen passing by with his bicycle would quickly notice this. An officer would soon pop up, find a couple of leaves in the earth, check the electricity consumption and catch the offender red handed in his own house. You should therefore proceed as follows: you need to procure a cement bucket, some poultry netting und wooden slats. Build a frame with the wooden slats for it to be placed on the cement bucket. This wooden frame should then be lined with the poultry netting to create an earth sieve. The earth to be disposed of should be sieved, in order to separate any scattered roots and leaves. The sieved earth will then be delivered to the recycling yard, this happens three dozen times a day. Plant residues of all types will be placed in another cement bucket. This should be perforated from below with a cordless electric drill used as a screwdriver, so as to create ventilation holes on its bottom. Plant residues should then be mixed with some earth and compost. When the bucket is full, apply a final layer of earth, to cap off the contents, which will have to be kept moist for six to twelve months. The two buckets can be piled up by placing two boards on the cement bucket. However check that the earth is still moist every two to four weeks. The plant material is decomposed by soil bacteria. Even if after six months stems should still not be totally decomposed, they would be so rotten, that nobody would be able to identify what type of plant they belong to unless they are lab tested. The compost can be enriched with chalk, for it to be mixed with new earth, so you will be able to dispose of the old plant material and process a part of the old earth.

Use of the toilet

Not everyone has room to store a couple of buckets. In this case the plant material to be disposed of could always be dried, chopped up and flushed away in the toilet in small quantities. For the chopping up of plants, you may use a power mixer or food processor, which can also be used to dump the contents of ashtrays into the toilet.

Fertiliser canisters

The problem with plastic fertiliser canisters is that a brand name is printed on them, which is a give-away that a fertiliser was used. However, the overprint can be removed from canisters or bottles, for them to be unnoticeably disposed of with the domestic waste or carried to the recycling yard. Whole canisters should be dissected and chopped up with a compass saw, to make them less bulky and no longer recognisable as fertiliser canisters. In any case, no packaging with ‘treacherous’ overprints should be disposed of with private domestic waste, or delivered to recycling yards.

Do not make diligent citizens angry

In California very high costs are charged when growers’ waste is disposed of into uncontrolled rubbish dumps. It is very common here to load the waste into a van for it to be taken into the countryside and dumped under cover of the night. This practice, however, will easily alert ‘diligent’ citizens.