It's easy to compost

Powys County Council has teamed up with Waste Awareness Wales to encourage householders to celebrate International Compost Awareness Week by composting for themselves.

International Compost Awareness Week is being held from May 6-12 to show residents how simple home composting can be and the results that can be achieved by turning organic waste into nutrient-rich compost.

Garden or ‘green’ organic waste, such as grass cuttings, leaves and twigs, is biodegradable and will decompose easily, and naturally in a compost bin instead of sending to landfill.

Councillor Barry Thomas, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling said: “Many people don’t realise how simple it is to home compost or just how much of their household waste can actually be composted. As well as autumn leaves, grass and hedge clippings, vegetable peelings and egg shells, you can put shredded cardboard, tea bags and even the contents of your vacuum cleaner into your compost bin.

“Once you’ve invested in a compost bin there are no further costs and you can have rich, homemade compost to use on your garden within as little as nine months. Anyone with outside space can compost as the bin can be set up on bare soil, concrete, tarmac or patio slabs, and after filling up the bin all you need to do is wait.

“Home composting helps ensure that organic household waste doesn’t end up in landfill. Not only is this a waste of natural resources but it also takes up increasingly limited landfill space. What’s more, you’ll be left with a product that has everything your plants need to flourish and stay looking beautiful and healthy.

“If you don’t have a garden, remember that you can still recycle any vegetable peelings, fruit cores, teabags and egg shells can be popped into your food caddy if your area has our new kerbside recycling collection.  There are also a number of garden waste banks located at the community recycling sites throughout Powys if you don’t wish to compost your garden waste or have larger garden waste items such as plants and branches to dispose of.”

To help householders get started, Powys County Council sell compost bins for £15 including delivery, or £10 if they are collected from a Household Waste and Recycling Centre.

To find out more about the offer or composting in general call 0845 602 7035.