Site Directory
Environment
Recycling and Waste
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Composting and Garden Waste
- What is composting?
- Why should I compost?
- Home Composter Information
- How to buy a discounted Home Composter
- Green Cone Food Digester
- How to buy a discounted Green Cone Food Digester
A new compost unit scheme has been entered into with Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in partnership with Waste Aware Scotland.
What is composting?
Composting at home is a sustainable way of dealing with organic waste from your home and garden.
Decomposition is caused by the natural action of hundreds of types of bacteria, fungi and other organisms feeding on the materials in the compost bin. Like us, these are living creatures and need, Food (Materials), Oxygen (Air) and Water (Moisture).
Composting is nature’s own method of waste disposal
Why should I compost?
Composting is good for your garden and the environment, it:
- Reduces Pollution
- Reduces Waste taken to landfill
- Saves YOU Money
- Improves the structure of garden soils
- Provides an excellent food for your plants
- Reduces the amount of chemical fertilizer put on land
- Reduces the need to buy compost from a shop
How to compost
Home Composter
The Home Composter is for garden waste and uncooked vegetable kitchen waste. It produces compost for use in the garden.
You can place the following materials into your Home Composter:
BROWN (dry) materials:
- Cardboard (shredded)
- Hedge trimmings
- Leaves
- Small branches and bark
- Sawdust and wood shavings
- Twigs
GREEN (moist) materials:
- Coffee grounds
- Egg shells
- Flowers, plants & weeds
- Fruit & vegetable peelings
- Grass cuttings
- Tea bags/ leaves
Key Points to remember:
- Place at least as much brown (dry) material as green (moist) materials into your Home Composter. The compost should be moist to the touch but not soggy.
- Turn your compost regularly to ensure that there is enough air in the mixture.
How to buy a discounted Home Composter
To buy a discounted Home Composter, please visit the home composting pages of Waste Aware Scotland.
Green Cone Food Digester
The Green Cone Food Digester is for most kitchen waste and produces a liquid feed that enters the soil under the digester.
You can place the following materials into your Green Cone Food Digester:
- Bread
- Coffee grounds & tea bags/ leaves
- Dairy products
- Egg Shells (small amounts)
- Fruit and vegetable waste
- Meat scraps, cooked and uncooked food
- Pet waste
Key Points to remember:
The Green Cone Food Digester works best if you feed it with a small amount of kitchen waste at a time, daily if possible.
You will need to dig a hole for the Green Cone's basket section.
The hole should be deep enough to come just above the basket rim.
Fix the top of the Green Cone to the basket and fit its lid.
Lower the Green Cone into the hole.
Fill in the hole around the Green Cone.
You will also receive a kitchen caddy and accelerant powder as part of your Green Cone kit.
A Green Cone can complement a Home Composter as a way of reducing your waste and improving your garden.
How to buy a discounted Green Cone
- You can buy a discounted Green Cone direct from Aberdeenshire Council for just £10.
- To buy using a debit card, please call the Wasteline.
- Alternatively, complete the Green Cone order form on this page and return it, with payment by cheque or postal order, to the address shown on page 2 of the form.
- Green Cone Order Form (pdf 68 kb)
