Home composting
Get Composting: special offers
The Suffolk Waste Partnership have launched a great new scheme which gives Suffolk residents the chance to buy home composting bins for under £10 each!
Through the scheme you can buy a range of heavily subsidised items, which can help you to compost both your garden and kitchen waste at home.
The scheme also includes subsidies on several composting systems which can deal with some cooked food waste.
There’s also the opportunity to get another compost bin of the same size for half price! So there's no better time to get composting!
To find all the offers on compost bins and more you can:
- Visit www.suffolk.getcomposting.com and enter your postcode
- Call 0844 571 4444 and quote SUF 21L
Why compost?
Did you know that more than a third of the contents of the average household waste bin could be rescued from disposal and 'recycled' at home? Composting is 'natures way of recycling' and the most evnveironmentally-friendly way of dealing with organic waste from your garden and kitchen. So why not get out in your garden, get back to nature and give home composting a go! You only need a small space to get started and you don't even need a compost bin! See below for some of the many benefits of home composting - and it's worth checking out our Top Tips for managing your Garden Waste to help deal with some of those tricky items most households have in abundance.
- Compost improves the health of your soil, which is great for your plants!
- It's free and easy to make from garden and kitchen waste.
- It is an excellent multi-purpose mulch.
- Unlike bought compost, it has no packaging or 'fuel miles' and is peat-free.
- Compost heaps and bins improve the bio-diversity of your garden.
- Making it keeps you fit and gets you out in the fresh air!
How do I compost at home?
- Buy a compost bin- ( subsidised composting systems are available to Suffolk residents here). There are a wide range of composting systems available - if you're not sure which system is best for you visit our compost bin comparison table here .
- Create a compost heap - you don't need to build a bin to make compost. Get started with a compost heap here .
- Build your own compost bin - many DIY designs to be found on-line including this one .
If you don't have a garden but have a balcony or utility room why not buy or make your own wormery?
For more detail on how to get started, you can follow Recycle Now's composting guide.
You may also be able to put compost in your kerbside composting bin for collection.
What can I compost at home?
- Tea bags (please note some brands contain 'micro-plastics' )
- Grass cuttings
- Vegetable peelings
- Salad leaves
- Fruit scraps
- Old flowers and nettles
- Coffee grounds
- Filter paper
- Crushed eggshells
- Egg and cereal boxes
- Corrugated cardboard
- Scrunched up newspaper
- Toilet and kitchen roll inner tubes
- Garden prunings
- Dry leaves, twigs, hedge clippings, straw and hay
- Bones
- Bread
- Cat litter
- Cling film
- Coal ash
- Cooked food (specialist systems only)
- Crisp packets
- Dairy products
- Disposable nappies
- Dog poo
- Drink cans
- Drink cartons
- Foam packaging
- Glass
- Meat and fish scraps
- Plastic bags
- Plastic bottles
- Stones
- Tins and cans
Composting advice
If you are an individual, school or group and need some home composting advice, you can contact a Master Composter at mastercomposters@suffolk.gov.uk.
There are lots of great composting self-help guides available - why not try these:
www.gardenorganic.org.uk/compost
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=444
www.allotment-garden.org/composts-fertilisers/composting-making-compost/
How can I promote composting in my area?
Master Composters
Learn what Master Composters do and how you can become a Suffolk Master Composter volunteer.
Community composting
Learn how to compost in your neighbourhood with a community composting scheme (CCS). Find out what a CCS does and how to set one up.