surreywaste.info

Home Composting

About a third of the contents of your domestic refuse bin will probably be compostable. This waste shouldn't go to landfill as it rots down and combines with water and other chemicals in the site to form a liquid called leachate. This can be extremely hazardous if it reaches watercourses and householders can help by not putting green waste or hazardous waste in their general rubbish.

All of the local councils offer home composters. To obtain one simply call them and ask for details and any costs. If you do not have space for a composter at home, all of the community recycling centres have green waste containers that you can use to dispose of your garden waste.

Due to the foot and mouth and BSE crises of recent years there is a growing amount of legislation and advice on what you should and should not compost from your household rubbish.

  • You can compost your own waste from your own home only; this is on the understanding that no pigs, poultry, sheep or goats are kept on the premises.
  • You cannot compost any catering wastes.
  • You cannot compost everything that is organic (i.e., that rots) in a home composter. Meat and fish are the prime examples of what not to compost. Unless you purchase a Green Cone.
  • All material containing kitchen waste must be fully composted before you apply it to your garden.

Green Garden Waste

A lot of the district and borough councils now provide a street collection for composting - contact your local council to see if this is offered. You can take any form of green garden waste to one of the community recycling centres and it will be composted. Avoid leaving plastic bags, metal or plant accessories in with the garden waste as these can cause the load to be refused by the composting plant and it will go to landfill instead.

Please do not include timber or stone, or extremely large branches as these can damage the shredding machines that are used to begin the composting process.

You should not include yew clippings in green waste skips. Yew is extremely poisonous and it is not recommended that you burn the leaves or bury them in your garden. You can contact Limehurst Ltd on 01243 545455 who will collect the yew clippings from you. These go on to pharmaceutical companies as there is a chemical in yew leaves that is used to develop medicines for cancer treatment.

For more information visit HDRA.