Garden waste - composting

The amount of waste produced in Devon is growing. Landfill sites are filling up quickly and new ones are very hard to find - this makes the cost of collecting and disposing waste more and more expensive. This is why the Council has banned garden waste from ordinary rubbish collections.

The Garden Waste collection service and support for home composting are two of the ways the Council help residents to convert garden and food waste into nutrient rich soil improvers for gardens and allotments. Visit Garden waste - collections from home for more information about this collection service.

Composting at home

Compost Bins are suitable for garden waste, vegetable peelings, banana skins, apple cores, tea bags, egg shells, egg boxes, shredded paper, cardboard, and other uncooked vegetable and fruit. This is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste and doing it at home is best because:

• it stops garden waste being sent to landfill.
• householders can create their own nutrient rich soil additive for their gardens or allotments.
• weight for weight, home produced compost is better for plants than peat based composts or chemical fertilizers - and it saves rare peat bogs from further destruction.
• the amount of harmful methane gases generated in landfill is reduced.
• there is no need to transport it anywhere, so there are no harmful carbon emissions.

Putting dairy products or cooked food scraps in a compost bin is likely to attract vermin and cause the bin to smell. If you want to compost cooked food scraps, and produce liquid plant food, then using a wormery is best as they are designed for this purpose. For more details on wormeries visit Original Organics Ltd.

Composters, wormeries and soil improvers

A range of composters, wormeries and soil improvers can be purchased from Council offices in Exton Road at cost price. Prices include VAT. Deliveries can be made at an additional cost.

View our  Composters, Wormeries and Soil Improvers [5Mb] document for further information.

If you are unable to compost it, you can take garden waste free of charge to one of the Recycling Centres - Devon County Council.

Visit WRAP Recycle Now or Composting - Devon County Council for more information about why and how to compost, and for additional styles of bins.

Visit Devon Wildlife Trust to discover ways of encouraging beneficial insects and birds to your garden. To find out about water butts visit South West Water - water butts for discounted water butts and composters.