Domestic compost heaps do not need a licence. EU regulations require that commercial scale composting operations must be controlled and regulated, but these rules were never intended for householders.

Anything that has lived and died can be composted, including kitchen waste such as vegetable peelings, cooked food, garden waste such as lawn clippings, animal waste such as horse manure, even dust from vacuum and packaging waste such as cardboard.

Composting is considered the best way to deal with organic waste.

If everyone composted their own kitchen vegetable and garden waste, we could halve the 29 million tonnes of household waste presently going to rapidly filling landfill sites each year.

HF Friends of the Earth Web site

A quarter of all household waste could be composted instead of going straight to landfill, according to the Council. To encourage residents to consider composting as a way of recycling their waste, the Council is offering until the end of August a subsidy to every household when they purchase a compost bin. A free three-month trial is also available.

The new recycling initiative offers residents a choice of two composters, a small composter for £8 or a large size for £12. Each composter comes with a free kitchen caddy to collect food scraps and they will be delivered free of charge.

The bins allow waste, such as peelings, food scraps and garden waste to be recycled into compost.
Deputy for environment, Cllr Michael Cartwright, said: "It is all part of our commitment to meeting the government's tough new recycling targets of doubling our recycling rate to 16% by next year."

To order a composter call Straight Recycling on 0845 130 6090.



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