In my area, they only shred Xmas trees for free mulch. You can even see bits of tinsel left in there. But they get shredded, then by the time we go to get it, (May) it has had a bit of time to "settle down". But, it's mostly needles, and not that much wood. So, what's gonna grow in it? Another thing that happens is old pallets, and lumber from build sites get separated. and shredded, but these get sold in bags. Call and ask what they shred.

g'day hennis, wouldn't worry about seeds, weeds, pests or diseased plant material. just what i have seen/heard that happens in the making of the "stuff" over here, and i'm not pretending it is any different over there as all local governement's are charged with disposing of waste materials, so this "composted" "stuff" is a good way to do that, you know what "they" the people don't know won't hurt them sort of process. at the end of the day it re-using material that would fill up valuable land fill space. i use small amounts of the product that comes in bags from nurseries and the product is used in most potting mediums anyhow. i have had stuff grow out of the "stuff" from weeds to cucumbers and tomato's, no worries but easy pulled or use for food. could it be as bad as what you cut up and compost at home probably not? but then that depends what you put into your compost too i expect? anyhow here goes, they use the solid wastes from sewerage, all timber material is chipped up and added that means furniture (with it's coating of paint and varnish) and dumped cca treated timbers, so apart from the light industrial and hospital waste (containing "low grade radiation" material) that goes into the sewerage, they also add the liquid inustrial waste that is collect into the piles (as far as i can tell only the very worst liquid waste goes to expensive incineration), but when you see those liquid waste or grease trap waste vehicles it is what they collect that gets added. over here if we want to use the "stuff" we have to pay for it even by the trailer load. len Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

thanks.

one of the reasons to never use a weed mat barrier material.. is that it interferes with the free flow of moisture and air back and forth thru the soil ... by definition.. yours is a moisture barrier ... ken