Keen gardeners can be environmentally friendly and save money when home composting.

Why should I consider composting?

Keen gardeners can be environmentally friendly and save money when home composting.

40% of household waste can be composted, this saves money on buying compost from retailers.
It improves soil quality and removes the risk of plant disease.

Guide to composting

Composting bins should be placed in a reasonably sunny area on bare soil.

Compost is ready to use when it is crumbly, dark in colour and gives off an earthy smell.

Lumpy compost is normal and can be used in borders and vegetable patches. If you aren’t happy with the consistency, put it back in the compost bin.
 

What to put in your compost bin?

Yes please:

• Tea leaves and teabags (ones containing plastic should be avoided)
• Grass cuttings
• Vegetable peelings
• Old flowers and nettles
• Coffee grounds and filter paper
• Used bedding plants
• Rhubarb leaves
• Young annual weeds (e.g. chick weeds)
• Crushed eggshells
• Egg and cereal boxes
• Corrugated cardboard and paper (scrunched up)
• Toilet roll and kitchen roll tubes
• Tissue, paper towels, napkins
• Garden prunings
• Twigs and hedge trimmings
• Straw and hay
• Bedding from vegetarian pets
• Ashes from wood, paper and lump wood charcoal
• Sawdust and wood chippings
• Feathers
• Vacuum bag contents
• Old, natural fibre clothe (cut up)
• Shredded documents
• Corn cobs and stalks

No, thank you:

• Cooked vegetables, meats and dairy products (unless they have first been treated with a specialist kitchen composter)
• Diseased plants, animal waste, or baby nappies
• Perennial weeds (such as dandelions and thistles)
• Plastic, glass, and metals

Where can I buy Northumberland made compost?

Compost can be bought at your local Household Waste Recovery Centre (HWRC).

Compost/soil conditioners can be bought from our HWRCs for about £4 per bag (2023 price). If there are none available at the time of your visit, bags can be ordered with expected delivery to the site between two to three days.
 
Compost is made using the garden waste we collect.
 
Residents can buy compost in bulk from James Enderby (01434 602786 or 07717 416643).  Visit the DJ and SJ recycling website.

Further information

• Home guide to composting
• What to compost
• Getting the right mix
• Composting know-how
• Making the perfect leafmould
• Dressing the lawn
• School guide to composting