compost

[chelsea dagger]

Hello everyone, i live in Milton keynes  and i contacted the council to find out what happens to the compost generated by the garden waste collection scheme.I was amazed to find that the compost is sold to a local farmer,when i asked for the reason i was told that the compost did not reach the required standard and that is why us lotties and the general public cannot use it.Not very green i thought, is this the same in other areas.seeya

[chelsea dagger]

[posie]

Welcome to A4A - cracking bunch of peeps on here  ;D

Maybe it's me just being cynical, but sounds to me more like they just want to make money out of it!

[ceres]

It's green in as much as they are making compost from green waste rather than sending it to landfill.  The problem with council compost is that undesirable stuff can get in there, for instance weedkillers such as clopyralid which is used in lawn treatments and ends up in the clippings, and the composting process doesn't break them down.  I think your council is acting responsibly.  My council sells its compost to the general public but I wouldn't buy it under any circumstances.

[posie]

Never thought of that Ceres.  Food for thought.  Don't think my council sells it, it does logs and bark chippings but never seen any compost.

[djbrenton]

According to the council website, Derby City's compost is Soil Association registered! No idea how they manage that.

[Baccy Man]

Maybe it's me just being cynical, but sounds to me more like they just want to make money out of it!

I think it is more likely they can't be bothered composting the waste properly rather than profiteering. The council would make far more if it was properly sorted, composted, bagged up & sold to the public. The average price for farm-grade compost this year was £5 per tonne, it's expected to raise to between £7-£10 per tonne next year depending on the NPK values of each batch due to petrol prices pushing up production costs. Demand for farm-grade compost is expected to go up next year because of the price increase of natural gas which is a component of ammonia fertilisers meaning a lot of farmers are likely to use more compost & less artificial fertilisers to keep costs down.

[caroline7758]

My council used to sell their composted waste as a soil improver, but they now give (or sell?) it to local farmers.

[kt.]

Hhhmm.  An interesting thread.  I have just emailed my council so hopefully will get a reply over the coming few days with their reply.

[PJW_Letchworth]

Hertfordshire sell their compost to general public.  It's called Ace of Herts.  I've never bought any of it but I hear it's not a bad bit of compost.

http://www.cumberlows.co.uk/section.asp

[ceres]

See, I just don't understand that.  If they collect green waste from council bins how can they possibly know that whatever's in the bin has had no chemicals - fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides - used on it.  Hot composting will break down a lot of things you wouldn't want in compost you're buying but not everything.  So how does it work? 

[Duke Ellington]

So what you are saying is that farmers dont really care whats in the compost and that they will use it regardless!! I am confused too!!

Duke

[Baccy Man]

The farmers are only usually only interested in the NPK value which is tested for by the council before it is offered for sale so they can calculate how much less fertiliser they need to apply & of course the price, the lower the better. At least thats all the farmers around here are interested in.

[Borlotti]

Enfield Council deliver compost and wood chippings free to our allotments. Hopefully it is OK, the wood chipping is growing mushrooms/toadstools in it at present.  The compost smells and steams, but hopefully after a year will be OK.  Let you know next year as have used quite a bit on my allotment.

[littlebabybird]

i emailed cumberlows yesterday

Dear James
I am very interested in your compost and I note from your web site that you compost is 100% peat free and 100% organic.
Could you please explain these claims for me.
How for instance do you prevent Mr and Mrs average house holder from putting peat based products into the green/brown bins, I do not see how you can possibly be peat free.
Like wise Organic, that is with out chemical weed killers or fertilizers are you telling me that NO ONE in your collection areas uses any fertilizer or weed killer on their gardens?
I would very much like to be able to buy your product but need a little reassurance


he has replied

Thank you for your email.  You are quite right in your observations.  Our web site does appear to be misleading and will need to changed to avoid these areas of concern.

However, I would like to make the following points:

Whilst it does say 100 % Organic.  This should really say 100 % organic process, in that there are no chemicals used in the breakdown of waste to compost.  It is a totally natural biological breakdown helps by shredding at the start and screening at the end.  The web site does state ...our composting process is 100 % organic
The peat free reference is suppose to imply rather than filling our bags with peat taken from the land we produce our own compost (soil conditioner) from recycled green waste. I.e we do not  add peat.  Whilst we can not police the public from putting in "peat", the brown bins are for green waste and in the case of North Herts, kitchen waste only.
I hope this gives you more reassurance

Kind regards

[littlebabybird]

sorry if my letter sounded snippy but it was late and i was angry
lbb

[ceres]

Not snippy at all lbb, in fact, a very good letter.  So, at best they are being economical with the truth.  Interesting to see if the website gets changed.  I suspect that all the other councils are doing the same thing.  Caveat emptor.

[cornykev]

Interesting that you get woodchips and compost for nothing Borlotti, I guess I'll be having a word with our site secretary as we get bugger all.  :(    ???    :-\     ;D ;D ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

If there are any garden contractors in your area they may well be glad to let you have grass cuttings and dead leaves to save the cost of tipping them.

[PurpleHeather]

Our local council delivers the 'green waste' to an independent company, it becomes the company's property at the point of delivery. They process and sell it. Seems the council are just happy to get rid. Who can blame them, all sorts go into those bins. The collection is franchised and the collectors are too busy trying to get their 'job and finish' work over for the day to check contents.

The council will get the driver to drop off the leaves from his road sweeping exercise, if we ask but they can contain anything which blows into the gutter.

Our members are all told to ask any one to drop off wood chips and soil onto the waste area beside the plots, the local farmer who uses herbicides also drops off his manure and keeps the area tidy.

Plot holders are warned that they use the products at their own risk but it all goes, eventually. Even locals come round and take the odd boot or trailer full for their gardens. We always have plenty. Even decent top soil gets tipped there from time to time.

Go through your local yellow pages and phone round tree surgeons, gardeners, landscapers, even builders. They are sometimes only too pleased to drop off if your site is near to where they are working.  You may receive an excuse that they can not because some reason which sounds like it is an illegal act but do not be put off, they may suspect that you are some authority testing them!

[pigeonseed]

I asked our local council, they don't sell compost from green waste because they use it to cover the landfill site. Makes you think how fast they're getting through land, filling it with our rubbish.