Loading shovel turning green waste in windrow

The Composting Process

Incoming green waste being deposited by lorry at Isfield composting site We believe that even on a large scale, composting should be kept simple. At our composting sites we accept green waste mostly in the form of green and woody plant materials, most of which arises from parks, gardens and agriculture. We shred the green waste material to reduce its volume and to increase the surface area of the particles. This is the start of the composting process. Composting is a natural, bacterial process – the bacterial are already present on the fresh plant material and in older composting material on the site. We do not add any bacteria, enzymes or additives to the process.

These bacteria require three key elements - air, water and food. The food is the plant material. We add rain water collected from the site if the material gets too dry, and we regularly turn the green waste material to get air into it. After 12 to 16 weeks the bacterial action has broken down the material into fine, dark compost. We then screen out impurities like small bits of plastic and pieces of wood that are still too large, and what’s left is ready to sell as a soil conditioner compost.

Composting at your home or business is no different. Contact your local council for information on home composter units, or if you want to compost on a larger scale then contact us for information on plant hire.