Council Compost

[ChrisB]

Hi Ian
Yes I suppose I might be able compost my own, but I don't have the energy needed for turning it these days and I don't have tons of space to give over to it anyway. We did do it for a long while but now.... I just get tired too easily!

[angie]

Found a link on the Council site - all green waste is taken to New Deer, to be recycled by Keenan Recycling
"Food and garden waste

Food and garden waste is transported to New Deer in Aberdeenshire and processed by Keenan Recycling. The material is stored and processed in order to produce BSI accredited compost products which are used as fertiliser and soil. These are available for residents to purchase at New Deer.  "   

http://www.keenanrecycling.co.uk/   - but  I can't see what they charge - and it would mean a  trip to exotic New Deer to find out how  good the stuff is!!

That's interesting Maggi. You would make a good detective, you always find an answer. They are digging up the moss that is at the back of my old house and I am tempted to stop and ask if I can get a lorry load, it's lovely peaty soli. Watching these huge diggers plough through the moss to make way for the new bypass. Might just ask 
Angie 

[Maggi Young]

Never hurts to try, Angie!

Christine, we've been making great compost for all these many years and we've never turned one once! Ian holds that if it is built well, with nice mix of content and able to get a good heat up it make wonderful stuff on its own. Must say that after 40 plus years of this method with great results, I would agree with him.
In the same way that life is "too short to stuff a mushroom", it is definitely too short to turn a compost heap!

[SusanS]

Whether you source your compost from a private supplier or a council run green waste scheme, it is always best to get PAS100 certified material. 

Some of the private firms also use the material collected via household recycling or waste management centres, (same as the council) to make their compost, so it is definitely worth paying that little bit extra for the certified material.  In order to get this status the material will have been heated to a temperature hot enough to destroy pathogens and weed seeds, sieved to remove particulates such as glass, plastics and pH adjusted (recycled green waste has a tendency to be slightly alkaline).   

The contents of the 'compost bins' varies greatly with the time of year - in winter it is often full of old Christmas trees and other such woody materials, in summer it is heavy on the old grass clippings.  So not only does the appearance vary from batch to batch, so does the nutritional content and structure.   

Have had some interesting lectures / talks on this subject at college (from WRAP and commercial compost producers), it is a much more complex process than I ever imagined, but one things for certain in light of what I have learnt - I would only purchase PAS 100 material.

Susan

[ChrisB]

That's handy to know Susan!

[rgc]

Hi
As my supply of Council compost was finished, went yesterday to the Stirling Council recycling centre near Fallin and filled two bags. Lovely looking crumbly material. At the centre, it is in a separate area with parking for about 6 cars and is just piled up in a heap which they replenish regularly - once when I arrived it was still hot and steaming. The notice states that collection is restricted to Stirling Council ratepayers and to two bags, but the area is unsupervised.

There is no sign that it is certified PAS 100, but it is free. It contains a small number of small pieces of plastic, but they are easily removed.  Given the quantity of material that they have, I have always assumed that the production process reaches high temperatures and certainly have had no problems with it introducing weeds. As they are not selling it, they have no pressure to get it certified as PAS 100, but what would it have that would make it likely to fail that certification?

I mix the compost with garden soil and use that when planting new things. Had used up the last of the compost when planting purchases from the SRGC Dunblane show last Saturday.
Bob

[brianw]

One of the problems used to be lawn weed killer not being broken down. You are supposed to put the first cuttings after treatment into the landfill bin but I doubt many people bother.

[rgc]

One of the problems used to be lawn weed killer not being broken down. You are supposed to put the first cuttings after treatment into the landfill bin but I doubt many people bother.

Thanks. Yes, I can see that council compost would contain some material like that, but likely to be in only a small proportion. Would it still be a problem in a very low concentration? Also doubt that PAS 100 certification would guarantee its absence.
Bob

[rgc]

Just been to the Council recycling centre to deposit some things and to fill another couple of bags with their free compost. It is much better than anything that I have been able to produce.

Was a bit concerned it might be very wet, but a new load had recently been dumped and it was still warm and very friable. Took a picture of the 8 foot high pile of compost which is shown below. You have to bring your own bags (maximum 2) and fill them yourself. How much you put in a bag is restricted to what you can lift into your boot!

There is no supervision - just the notice shown in the second picture.

[rgc]

Watched tonight's episode of Beechgrove Garden. They were quite positive about council compost.

[Graham Catlow]

Thought I would show a photo of a border that I put a load of council compost on last August when I started this thread.

So nine months on it looks like this. Not bad methinks.

Edit. (Just been informed that I lost a year somewhere. The compost has been on the garden for 21months)

[brianw]

Thought I would show a photo of a border that I put a load of council compost on last August when I started this thread.

So nine months on it looks like this. Not bad methinks.

(Attachment Link)

Think you lost a year Graham ;-)

Just noticed an earlier post showed a sign that mixes cardboard with green waste. Definitely a no-no here. Cardboard goes with paper here.

[Graham Catlow]

Think you lost a year Graham ;-)

Just noticed an earlier post showed a sign that mixes cardboard with green waste. Definitely a no-no here. Cardboard goes with paper here.

Oh My! Have I really been here that long! I thought it was doing rather well after nine months. But still it shows that council compost can be ok you just need to be selective about the type you collect. I have turned away several times when I didn't think it looked good.

We also separate our cardboard from our green waste.