Compost
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Compost is a rich brown soil-like material made from ‘organic’ waste (produced from living things) including garden cuttings and food waste.
Composting is a natural process where organic waste is broken down by billions of natural organisms such as bugs, fungi and bacteria. In a single teaspoon of compost there could be 600 million useful bacteria at work and their numbers could double within the hour. This rapid bacterial growth is the main reason why large compost heaps can get so hot!
With the right stuff, composting will happen. There is no need for expensive equipment or tools; just a heap in the corner of the garden is enough.
Did you know?
Amazingly, around one third of the food we buy is thrown away without being touched.
If you throw a lot of food waste away, click here to see the National ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ website.
To find out more about composting see the Devon Community Composting Network Website.
A simple test to check if something can be composted is; ‘If it has lived recently, it will compost’.
Using this test; paper (made from wood) will compost, and plastic (made from oil) will not.
Many people have a compost caddy (or other container) in their kitchen because where food is being prepared, there are loads of things to compost, such as;
Vegetable peelings
Tea bags / coffee grinds
Stale bread
Egg shells
Tissues
Uneaten raw food scraps, such as salad.
You then add your caddy to your garden compost heap and improve your soil in the process.
Garden waste including hedge cuttings, grass, leaves and branches can be composted at Devon’s Recycling Centres. Some Councils will collect food or garden waste from your house or you may also be able to compost through a local composting group. However, if you really want to save the world, compost in your own garden, it’s that easy!
Home composting is great because it will give you healthy soil, improve your soil structure and provide a healthy natural environment for your soil organisms and the food chains that rely on them. Composting also means that the ‘waste’ does not need to be collected or processed saving energy and pollution.
For those without gardens or who have a lot of food waste, European legislation known as the Landfill Directive was introduced to reduce the problems of compostable waste being buried in landfill sites. This legislation has led to many Councils collecting garden or food waste, that can’t be composted at home, directly from our houses. Once collected, the organic waste may then be composted in a number of ways, including;
Windrow Composting
What is this? – This is simply organic waste that has been shredded and piled into huge heaps outdoors. When this type of process is used on its own, it usually deals with garden waste only. Natural bacterial activity in these heaps can see temperatures rocket to over 80oC. On a few occasions heaps have even been known to set on fire!
In-Vessel Composting
What is this? – This method of composting is needed when food is composted with garden waste. Because of regulations, this process cooks food and garden waste using natural bacteria inside tunnels (or vessels) before being piled outdoors in windrows to compost. The cooking process kills any potentially harmful bacteria that could be spread by wildlife including birds.
Anaerobic Digestion
What is this? – This process is actually known as an Energy from waste treatment because it produces methane to produce power. Anaerobic Digestion deals with food or liquid food wastes which are loaded into sealed containers to produce gas and a soil like product. Anaerobic Digestion differs from traditional composting because the bacteria used are anaerobic (without air).
Community composting
What is it? – This is where local people get together to form community composting groups. These groups often allow locals to drop their garden clippings off and sell compost produced back to the community. The advantage of community composting is that the garden waste does not travel long distances and can be used locally.
This website is intended to provide a broad introduction to waste management in Devon, if it doesn’t answer all your waste questions, please contact us via the ‘Ask a question’ page on this site and we will do our best to answer it.
