Home composting

Organic household waste can be disposed of in your brown bin, or by using a home composter.

We encourage those who produce lots of compostable garden waste to recycle through home composting. This gives the benefit of producing compost for the garden.

Surplus garden type waste can also be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre.

To get you started, Zero Waste Scotland have produced an easy guide to composting.

Home composting reduces the amount of biodegradable waste going for final disposal. While creating a useful product to benefit your garden it also encourages insects and wildlife into your garden.

Sit your compost bin (on bare soil or grass) in a reasonably sunny spot, sheltered from the wind that is easily accessible all year.

Making your own compost bin can be a relatively simple, environmentally friendly alternative. This is done often using pallets or other leftover wood. You can find lots of “how to” videos and tips online.

The following sites have lots of ideas and useful information:

• Gardener’s World – How to build a compost bin
• BBC Gardening – making compost
• Centre for Alternative Technology Cool Composting

It usually takes between six and 18 months dependent on:

• the materials used
• the time of year
• how much air you get into it

Adding air speeds up the composting process, but if you have the correct mix of brown and green materials, it is not necessary. You can add air by:

• turning the compost with a garden fork
• using an aerator stick
• creating pockets by adding scrunched up paper and cardboard

Add more green materials if it is too dry. Add brown materials if it feels slimy or soggy.

Compost is ready when it is dark brown and crumbly with an ‘earthy’ smell.

Almost 12,500 tonnes of food and garden waste is collected from North Ayrshire each year. This is then recycled into rich compost which is made available for use by the Council and also offered from time to time to residents for free. Helping to close the loop and provide you with a valuable resource which you can use in your garden to grow healthy vegetables and plants.

From time to time, we offer residents the chance to give their plants a boost with our free compost giveaway events. The compost will be loose, so take a bag and shovel with you.

Locations and dates will be announced on this page. Please also look out for updates on our social media channels.

For further information on home composting, please contact a Waste Awareness team member.