Why should I compost?
Composting is the simple way to help nature restore your garden’s health and vitality.
Home composting can help:
You, to save money on buying compost. Composting and gardening are also recognised physical activities that can improve your health and well-being.
The environment, by reducing waste sent for disposal, prevents the production of harmful gases and reduces the reliance on peat.
Your garden, by feeding plants, lightening heavy soils and helping light soils hold more water.
+ Getting Started
Getting started and making compost at home is easy, follow these simple steps to make great compost for your garden.
Step 1 – Position
- Placing your compost bin on bare earth is best, however composting organisms will still find their way in on paving slabs
- Position it somewhere where you’ll use it regularly
- Putting your bin in a sunny spot is recommended – a shady spot will also work but take longer
- Make sure you have space around the bin so you can remove the compost easily
Step 2 – What goes in my bin?
- Uncooked fruit and vegetable waste from your kitchen
- Hedge clippings, old bedding plants and other garden waste
- Your compost bin needs air – you can do this by adding whole egg boxes and scrunched up card
- Getting the right balance of materials that you put in your compost bin is key to producing good compost. Aim for approximately 50% greens (e.g. grass clippings, fruit and veg waste and leafy plant materials) and 50% browns (e.g. paper, cardboard, shredded paper and straw)
Click here for more information about what can and can’t be composted.
Step 3 – Your finished compost
- If you feed your bin regularly, it will take about 12 months to produce compost that can be used in the garden
- Your finished compost can sprinkled onto lawns, dug into borders and veg patches or used as a potting mix
Find out more in our Why Compost at Home Leaflet
+ Can you Compost it?
Some materials have been marked as a caution, this is to highlight that they could cause problems with the composting process. They can be added to your compost bin but care needs to be taken with amounts with some materials e.g. leaves, grass cutting, animal manure and wood shavings. Perennial weeds can easily be pre treated before putting them directly into your compost bin. More information about the materials marked as a cautions can be found in our Can you compost it? Booklet.
If you have any questions about composting we’re here to help:
Email mastercomposters@norfolk.gov.uk
Call 0344 800 8020
+ Buy a Bin (or make one)
Online
Norfolk County Council have teamed up with Get Composting to offer cut price compost bins
to Norfolk residents.
Prices start from just £15 (plus £6.99 for delivery) and you can buy one get one half price.
220 litre black bins at £15 (standard price £31)
220 litre green bins at £15 (standard price £31)
330 litre black bins at £21 (standard price £43)
330 litre green bins at £21 (standard price £43)
You can buy a reduced priced compost bin online at www.getcomposting.com or by telephone on 0800 316 4454. Please be aware that delivery can take up to 28 days.
At Recycling Centres
220 litre black compost bins are available to purchase from all 20 Norfolk Recycling Centres. They are available for £15 and you can buy one get one half price. Find your nearest local recycling centre here.
NB. This offer is limited to 2 compost bins per customer.
You can also buy these associated compost items:
- Bags of compost are £4.50 a bag. The bags are hand-filled with compost which has been made from recycled garden waste to approximately 40 litres.
- Garden waste sacks are £4 each, to help with storage and transport of garden waste.
Make a Compost Bin or Wormery
Many people choose to make their own compost bins out of pallets, wire or other materials alternatively just make a loose heap in a garden corner! Take a look at this building a compost box guide for some great ideas.
Wormeries use worms to create dark crumbly compost from your kitchen and garden waste. If you haven’t the space for a traditional compost bin, you could find that worm composting is just the thing for you. This factsheet explains how to make a wormery from stacking boxes for a fraction of the cost of commercially available models.
+ Bokashi Composting Method
Cooked food shouldn’t be put in your compost bin as it can attract rats, there are other systems that you can use to compost this type of waste.
Bokashi Bins allow you to compost all of your food waste including meat, fish, dairy products and any other organic material in one container.
Add your kitchen waste to your Bokashi Bin, sprinkle on a handful of Bokashi Bran and seal the air tight lid to start the fermenting process. After a few weeks your waste can be added to a conventional compost heap, or dug straight into the ground.
For Norfolk residents the Bokashi bin twin pack is available at a reduced price of £18 (standard price £36.50) from www.getcomposting.com
+ Community Composting
What is community composting?
Community composting enables garden material to be collected from households in the community and composted at a local site. The resulting compost can then be used by residents.
The schemes are run by volunteers and community groups and are an excellent way in which local communities can recycle garden waste in their area. They can also help to bring members of the local community closer together.
Norfolk County Council can help provide an income from community composting through our Recycling Credits payments.
Community composting schemes
Below is a video on how Trunch Village Society Community Composting Group operates their community composting scheme. Volunteers collect garden waste from participating households. They then weigh it, shred it and place it in compost bays. The maturing compost is turned and eventually sieved, bagged and offered as compost for a donation.
Benefits of setting up a community composting scheme
- They reduce the amount of garden waste needing disposal and treatment.
- They help to reduce the environmental impacts of transporting waste.
- They produce a compost-type product that is useful and locally available.
- They can generate an income for the local community.
- They can provide opportunities for education, training and even employment in the local community.
- They provide an additional community service.
- They assist the process of partnership working and networking in the local community.
Parish and town councils could also support schemes with planning and insurance cover and benefit from any income generated and the local publicity.
How to set up a community composting scheme
There are several steps involved in setting up a scheme, for some things that you might like to consider have a look at our checklist.
+ Master Composters
If you are keen on composting or volunteering (or both) you could train to be one our helpful Master Composter volunteers. Find out more here or visit norfolk.gov.uk/mastercomposters
+ Are you having trouble getting your compost just right?
Is it too wet, dry o
r smelly? Do you have some unwanted residents? Click here for advice on how to deal with the most common home composting problems.
Is there something you’d like to know about your compost bin or heap and you don’t know who to ask? Fill in this form and one of our Master Composters will get in touch.
+ Garden Waste Collections
Norfolk’s councils offer a chargeable collection service for your garden waste. They provide you with a brown bin that is emptied fortnightly – a great way to keep on top of your garden waste without too many trips to the recycling centre.
Find out more here.
Get composting
Watch Video