Home composting

Reduced price compost bins are once again on offer to Suffolk residents through the Suffolk Waste Partnership. Follow the link below for product details and online ordering:

• Suffolk Waste Partnership compost bin offer (new window)

The website also sells a range of composting accessories, wormeries and plastic water butts.

The benefits of home composting

Composting your garden waste and fruit and vegetable scraps at home is the most environmentally friendly way to deal with this sort of waste, and is preferable to other methods for the following reasons:

• If organic waste is sent to landfill, it contributes to the production of greenhouse gases such as methane which lead to climate change, in addition to the emissions caused by collecting it and transporting it there.
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• If organic waste is burnt on bonfires, the smoke it produces pollutes the air and can be a nuisance to neighbours.
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• If organic waste is treated properly at a central composting facility, it still needs to be collected and transported.

Producing your own compost at home has other benefits. It provides a free compost you can use on the garden and so reduces the need to buy peat products.

Peat bogs are fragile wildlife habitats and many have been destroyed in order to meet the demand for peat products. Peat and compost products for sale often come pre-packaged, contributing to more waste.

Also, if you make your own compost, you know exactly what has gone into it.

Follow this link for more advice about composting at home (new window) on the RecycleNow website or call their composting helpline on 0845 600 0323.

Excess garden waste that you can't manage at home can also be taken to the household waste recycling centres (new window) at Felixstowe, Foxhall and Leiston. This waste is shredded and composted at Foxhall to produce Green Top soil improver.

Green top soil improver

Green Top soil improver can be purchased in 20kg bags from all the household waste recycling centres, except Foxhall, at the cost of £1.50 per bag. At Foxhall, you have to take your own bags where the cost is £1 per bag, shovels are provided for your convenience. Larger loads can be collected from Foxhall or delivered by arrangement. Follow this link for more details about Green Top (new window).