Freshly cut plant waste containing little wood as it frequently occurs as waste from cutting in garden, landscape, roadside and forest maintenance is usually referred to as green waste. The spectrum of plants ranges here from grasses, green shrubbery to green wood such as branches with a high proportion of leaves/foliage.

The most common, useful end products of green waster are mulch (especially in a heavy wooded condition) or soil improvers (after previous composting) such as potting soil or biological fertilizers , for example. On the community level, green waste is usually collected centrally and processes in composting plants.

For energetic recycling, especially of green waste with little wood content, use as a substrate in biogas plants is conceivable as an alternative to incineration.