composting sites

[4390evans]

Is there places in the UK that do compost where you can just go shovel your own then go? I know they do them in america but the UK are either behind or keeping it quite.

[Nannysally99]

I'm more than sure our local council does it at certain times of the year, check yours online maybe

[WendyC]

Ring the council and ask what happens to the green waste collected. Ours bag it and sell it back at a ridiculous price, about a fiver for about a 40 litre bag. They do sell it loose to large organisations.

[ButternutSquash]

Is it safe? I read that it is the best way to get Japanese knotweed, and a tiny tiny piece is enough to spread. I can see people spraying weedkiller on a lawn, then dumping the cuttings in the council green bin. Or digging out perennial weeds, and dumping them in the green bin, even though it is an offence for some weeds.

[Penellype]

I've also wondered about that. You have to trust people to put in only stuff that is compostable, and I bet you get some that just stick anything in. If you live in an area where there is Japanese knotweed I'd be very wary of this.

[veggiechicken]

I think that a lot of this municipal compost ends up in the bags of MPC that are on sale. There seem to be no guarantees about what has gone into them.
There's a compostimg site near me that offers locals free compost if you bag it yourself. I've never been there so can't speak from experience.
You can read about their process at Cowbridge Compost

[Richard Eldritch]

I think many councills use it for municipal beds and Allotments. I think some hotcompost it in huge vats so contamination isn't likely.

[ButternutSquash]

That link confirms they use hot composting. I wonder if that is the norm? It is said to guarantee destruction of perennial and annual seeds and roots.

[Penellype]

I have a hotbin, which does indeed seem to kill off seeds and perennial roots, but they do warn against putting in knotweed, partly because it is a notifiable plant and partly because they are not sure it will kill it.

[lyndapet]

our council offer it free twice a year. We are given bio degradable sacks to fill and can take as much as we can carry.. THe compost is top quality and as good as any we buy.


Sent from my iPad using Grow Your Own Forum mobile app

[4390evans]

I rang the council this morning and they said all the brown bin waste gets took to a big farm when it is heated up and spread out on to the farm. She said its not compost at the end its more a soil conditioner and its not available to the public. Sunderland council has always been crap like! x

[teakdesk]

I rang the council this morning and they said all the brown bin waste gets took to a big farm when it is heated up and spread out on to the farm. She said its not compost at the end its more a soil conditioner and its not available to the public. Sunderland council has always been crap like! x

So the total brown waste co!!ected from the whole of Sunderland is just enough to provide soil conditioner for one farm???


Make me proud that my own efforts at home go so far!!!!

[alldigging]

So the total brown waste co!!ected from the whole of Sunderland is just enough to provide soil conditioner for one farm???


Make me proud that my own efforts at home go so far!!!!

LOL yeah the things some councils do eh?

Cynical? Noo.

Ours I think might have recently started selling it but it is only soil conditioner. Think it was dear too.

[4390evans]

Aye, I was thinking the same. There is loads round here that is into gardening and they are forever lopping down trees and I thought where is the stuff from all that going? Must be a mighty big farm!

[teakdesk]

Sheffield Council says it disposes of garden waste thus:-


"Green Estate sites in Sheffield use the garden waste to make compost. You can buy the compost from Green Estate or Heeley City Farm. The compost is also used on Sheffield City Council reclamation land."