Pruning cuttings in Mallorca: what to do without burning them
Every winter, gardens and fincas across Mallorca fill up with pruning cuttings: olive branches, almond and fruit tree wood, hedge trimmings. For a long time the usual answer was a bonfire at the end of the garden. Today, as a general rule, that is no longer allowed. This post explains what the law says, which exceptions exist, and what you can do with your cuttings instead.
Why a bonfire is not the answer
Spain’s waste law is Ley 7/2022, de residuos y suelos contaminados para una economía circular. Article 27.3 starts with this sentence: “Con carácter general, no está permitida la quema de residuos vegetales generados en el entorno agrario o silvícola.” In plain words: as a general rule, burning plant waste from farms and forestry is not allowed.
The same article lists the exceptions, and they are narrow:
- Small and micro farms are exempt from the rule. The law links this exemption to an EU directive on air pollutant emissions (Directive 2016/2284).
- An authorised burn. The regional authority can allow a burn, but only for plant-health reasons, when there is no other way to stop a pest from spreading and this is justified, or to prevent fires.
An authorised burn is not something you decide on your own: it needs a permission from the authority, and only for those two reasons.
What the law asks for instead
Plant waste that is not burned under one of the exceptions has to be managed as waste. The law asks for the waste hierarchy to be followed, and it gives priority to recycling by biological treatment, which means composting. In practice, the cuttings should end up where they can be turned back into something useful, not in smoke.
Farm material is treated differently
Article 3.2.e of the same law leaves some material outside the waste rules altogether. It covers natural, non-hazardous farm or forestry material, such as straw, that is used in farming, livestock, forestry or to produce energy from that biomass, by methods that do not harm health or the environment.
This exclusion is about farm and forestry material that stays in farm use. Cuttings from a private garden are not named in it. For most gardens in Mallorca, the general rule is the one that applies: no bonfire, and the cuttings are treated as waste.
Where to take garden waste in Mallorca
Mallorca has municipal recycling points, called deixalleries, authorised as waste facilities by the Govern de les Illes Balears. The Govern’s list of November 2023 includes these in Mallorca:
- Inca: Deixalleria d’Inca
- Campanet: Deixalleria de Campanet
- Campos: Deixalleria de Sa Ràpita and Deixalleria de Campos
- Consell: Deixalleria de Consell
- Pollença: Deixalleria de Pollença
- Mancor de la Vall: Deixalleria de Mancor de la Vall
- Porreres: Deixalleria de Porreres
- Santa Margalida: Deixalleria de Can Picafort
- Calvià: Deixalleria de Calvià, in Santa Ponça
- Palma: Deixalleria del Polígon de Son Castelló and Deixalleria de S’Aranjassa
- Sóller: Deixalleria de Sóller
- Felanitx: Deixalleria de Felanitx
- Lloseta: Deixalleria de Lloseta
The list does not say which kinds of waste each recycling point takes, how much, or from whom. Before you load the car, ask your town hall or the deixalleria whether it accepts garden waste and on what terms. If your town is not on the list, your town hall can tell you where to go.
Let someone take the cuttings away
If the pile is too big for the car, or you would rather not deal with it at all, you can have the cuttings taken away. When we prune, we take all the cuttings away whole, so nothing is left in the garden, and we can also collect a pile you have already cut. The pruning and cuttings removal page explains how it works, and the budget calculator gives you an estimate for the trees you want pruned or for the size of your pile.
A short checklist
- Do not light a bonfire of garden cuttings: as a general rule, it is not allowed.
- If you run a farm, check whether one of the exceptions applies to you before you burn anything.
- For garden waste, ask your town’s deixalleria what it accepts before you go.
- Remember that the law gives priority to composting plant waste.
- For big piles or regular pruning, ask for the cuttings to be taken away.
This post gives general advice; every garden is different. Our service: Pruning and cuttings removal