Home composting

Organic household waste can be disposed of in your brown bin, or by using a home composter.

We encourage those who produce lots of compostable garden waste to recycle through home composting. This gives the benefit of producing compost for the garden. Zero Waste Scotland offers an easy guide to composting.

Surplus garden type waste may be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre.

Home composting reduces the amount of biodegradable waste going for final disposal. While creating a useful product to benefit your garden, it also encourages insects and wildlife into your garden.

Sit your compost bin (on bare soil or grass) in a spot that is:

• reasonably sunny
• sheltered from the wind
• easily accessible all year

Making your own compost bin can be environmentally friendly. Often done using pallets, or leftover wood, you can find 'how to' videos and tips online:

• Gardener’s World – How to build a compost bin
• BBC Gardening – making compost
• Centre for Alternative Technology Cool Composting

It usually takes between six and 18 months dependent on:

• the materials used
• the time of year
• how much air you get into it

Adding air speeds up the composting process, but if you have the correct mix of brown and green materials, it is not necessary. Add air by:

• turning the compost with a garden fork
• using an aerator stick
• creating pockets by adding scrunched up paper and cardboard

Add more green materials if it is too dry. Add brown materials if it feels slimy or soggy.

Compost is ready when it is dark brown and crumbly with an 'earthy' smell.

Almost 12,000 tonnes of food and garden waste is collected from North Ayrshire each year. This is recycled into rich compost which is made available for use by the council. It is donated to local community gardens and allotments and offered from time to time to residents for free.

This helps us to close the loop and provide you with a valuable resource. You can then use the compost in your garden to grow healthy vegetables and plants. Applying compost is one of the best ways to increase the health of your garden by helping the soil to absorb nutrients more effectively, retain moisture and develop strong plant roots.

The council is offering residents the chance to give their plants a boost in time for summer with our free compost giveaway events. We hope to give away 60 tonnes of compost over a week and it will be offered on a first come, first served basis. The compost will be loose, so please bring a bag and shovel with you.

This year's compost giveaway events will take place as follows:

• Household Waste Recycling Centre, Market Road, Brodick
• Garrison House, Millport (Clifton Street, end of car park)

• Irvine Beach Park car park (near Harbour Pilot House), Irvine

• Vikingar car park, Largs
• Kilbirnie library (car park behind library)
• Stevenston Shore, Trelawney Terrace car park (rescheduled from Monday 9 June)

By recycling the Right Stuff in the Right Bin, you can:

• help us reduce the £3.6 million spent sending waste for final disposal
• contribute to environmental initiatives such as the North Ayrshire Food Larders which give back to the community

Thank you for recycling your food and garden waste in your brown bin.

Check our social media channels for any unforeseen changes to the advertised dates/times.