Home Composting
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 Surrey's local authorities are now working with Recycle Now, a multimedia national recycling campaign implemented by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme), on behalf of the government, to get more people recycling their kitchen, household and garden waste by composting at home.
What this means for you, the resident, is that you now have access to a range of subsidised home compost bins starting from as little as £12.00 Log on to http://www.recyclenow.com/compost or call 0845 077 0757 to order.
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 crisis 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 food waste digester. For more information on food digesters visit the recyclenow website .
All material containing kitchen waste must be fully composted before you apply it to your garden.
You should also not include yew clippings in your compost heap. Yew is extremely poisonous and it is not recommended that you burn the leaves or bury them in your garden. You can, instead, contact Limehurst Ltd on 01243 545455 who will take them to extract a particular chemical, which pharmaceutical companies use to develop medicines for cancer treatment.
For more information on home composting contact Garden Organic.