Composting Tips

Composting is not just for garden waste, there are lots of everyday waste items that can be composted. The average rubbish bin in Sandwell contains at least 30% of materials which could be composted at home, including:

• Egg shells
• Tea bags
• Fruit cores
• Vegetable peelings
• Flowers
• Grass cuttings
• Vacuum cleaner contents - if your carpets are wool
• Newspaper - scrunched or ripped up
• Shredded paper
• Card - including egg boxes, kitchen & toilet roll tubes

Compost can be made at home by:

• buying a compost bin through our low cost offer below
• piling your compostable waste into a heap, or
• building your own compost bin.

Larger pieces of garden waste such as tree sections and branches need to be shredded or chipped to be composted at home. Larger amounts of garden waste can be disposed of for large scale composting through the following services:

• Free garden waste wheeled bin collections.
• Take it to the Household Recycling Centre Shidas Lane, Oldbury.

For lots of practical advice about composting at home, visit the Recyclenow website or call the national home composting helpline on 0845 600 0323.

Compost Offers

We have teamed up with even greener so that Sandwell residents can buy compost bins at bargain prices, including:

• Compost converter, 220 litre - only £14.00 (OFFER - 2nd bin half price)
• Compost converter, 330 litre - only £17.00 (OFFER - 2nd bin half price)
• Kitchen caddy - only £4
• Please note that there is a £5 delivery charge per order
• Composting information leaflets are included with compost bins

Go to Sandwell Get Composting website to see the wide range of offers on composting products and water butts.

Place your order:

• Online at the Sandwell Get Composting website or
• Call 0844 571 4444 (Monday - Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm, Sunday 9am to 5pm).

Food Waste Digesters - At Bargain Prices

With food waste digesters you can include items that aren’t suitable for 'traditional' home composting. With a food waste digester unit in your garden, you can dispose of all kitchen food waste including cooked and uncooked food, meat, fish, bones, dairy products, bread, pasta, fruit scraps and vegetable peelings.

We have teamed up with Dudley Council and Green Cone Limited to offer food waste digesters at up to £65 cheaper than the usual retail price.

The Green Cone

The patented design ensures the almost total breakdown of all food waste into its natural components of water and carbon dioxide, thus producing minimal residue. The double-walled solar cone creates a heat trap of circulating air to encourage the growth of harmless bacteria and also helps to insulate the waste in winter.

With the digestion chamber below ground level there are no smells and worms and natural soil organisms can migrate freely in and out of the basket.

The Green Cone is available for only £20.50 (normally £68) plus £9.95 delivery.

The Green Johanna

The Green Johanna is not a simple traditional composter. Through innovative design it can safely handle both garden and all food waste, producing excellent quality compost. The unit has a rodent proof base plate and the compost is easily accessed through two sliding doors. The Green Johanna ideally composts two parts food waste to one part of garden waste.

The Green Johanna is available for only £30.75 (normally £96) plus £9.95 delivery.

These offers are limited to the first 250 Dudley Council residents and the first 250 Sandwell Council residents. Only one digester will be sold to each household.

To find out more about food waste digesters, and to buy one at these bargain prices, visit the Green Cone website or call Green Cone on 0800 731 2572.