Composting at home

If you have a compost bin, you can turn the following materials into compost at home. After a while, they will become nutritious soil that you can use to grow healthy plants in your garden:

• Shredded paper and soft card
• Crushed eggshells
• Garden cuttings
• Raw fruit and vegetables
• Teabags and coffee granules
• Contents of the vacuum cleaner bag
• Hair and fur

Where to buy a composter

• Your local DIY store.
• Visit GetComposting.com or phone 0844 571 4444.

Top tips for home composting

• Place your compost on level, well-drained soil. This is important to let water out and worms in.
• Keep the compost damp but not wet.
• Turn your compost regularly. This improves air circulation and speeds up the composting process.

For more information about home composting, contact Cornwall Council on 0300 1234 141.

Composting at your local household waste and recycling centre or using Cornwall Council’s fortnightly collection service

Please bring green/garden waste to your local household waste and recycling centre or subscribe to Cornwall Council’s fortnightly garden waste collection service, so it can be turned into compost.

Green waste you can dispose of at your local household recycling centre or through the Council’s collection service

• Hedge cuttings
• Grass cuttings
• Leaves
• Twigs
• Branches

Please don’t use these services for

• Ragwort (toxic)
• Japanese knotweed (invasive)

For more information about disposing of toxic and invasive plants, please follow the government guidelines.

What happens next

Your green/garden waste is taken to a composting facility where it is shredded, composted, screened and graded before being used in local agriculture and for landscaping. Cornwall’s composting facilities include:

• The Green Waste Company
• Tinten On Farm Composting Ltd