Making compost is a bit like making a cake, you need the right ingredients for it to turn out right.

At West Coast Composting Ltd, we take the green waste that the bin men collect from your homes and turn it into compost for your gardens.

What Can Go in Your Green Bin?

 You can put in things like:

 

• Leaves 🍂
• Grass cuttings
• Hedge clippings
• Weeds
• Dead flowers 🌼
• Twigs and small branches
• Christmas trees (cut up and decorations removed 🎄)

 

Top tip: Fruit and veg peelings are great to compost—but we can't use them, they’re best put in your compost bin at home or at school!

 What Can’t Go In?

 Some things don’t belong in the green waste bin because they don't rot away, can carry germs or they spoil the mix.

Question: Before you read on, can you take a guess at something that shouldn't go in?

 

Things that don't belong in the green bin:

 

• Plastic, glass, or metal
• Food waste
• Soil, stones, or rubble
• Pet waste or nappies
• Plant pots
• Daffodils or rhododendrons

 

You don't need to use a bin bag in your green waste bin - plastic can spoil the compost!

 

The Journey Begins…

 

1.Collected from Your Home

 Your garden waste is collected by Cumberland council and brought to West Coast Composting Ltd. They drive their wagon onto our weigh bridge , which tells us how much waste they have collected and then tip it out into the yard.

 

 2.Carefully Sorted

 

Our team checks through the waste and remove anything that shouldn’t be there.

 This is really important to make sure the compost is safe and high quality.

Look what we found whilst checking, a plastic duck!

 

3. Shredded into Smaller Pieces

 

The waste is put through a big machine that chops everything into smaller bits.

 

This helps it break down faster.

 

4.Made into Big Piles

 

The shredded material is made into long rows called windrows.

 

These are like giant compost lines!

 

5.It Heats Up!

 

 As the waste breaks down, it gets really warm—up to 55–72°C. That is hotter than the hottest Summer day we have had. It is too hot to touch!

 This heat helps:

 

• Kill weeds
• Remove harmful bacteria

 

We check the temperature every day to make sure it’s working properly.

Question :Do you know the name of the tool that is used to measure heat? 

 

6.Turned and Mixed

 

The piles are turned using big machines to keep air moving through them, a bit like mixing that cake.

 

This helps all the tiny helpers (like bacteria and microbes) do their job.

 

7.Time to Settle

 

After a few weeks, the compost cools down and continues breaking down more slowly. Worms, bacteria and microbes will do the rest of the work. Now it’s becoming rich, healthy compost! 

 

8.Screened and Finished

 

The compost is put through a machine to make sure it’s the right size and quality.

 

This is how we make our PAS100 certified compost.

 

9.Ready to Use!

 

The finished compost is stored, bagged, and ready to help plants grow.

 

Anything too big gets reused or spread back onto land.

 

From Bin… to Bloom!

That pile of garden waste from your home can grow:

 

• Flowers 
• Vegetables 
• Trees 

 

Question: What would you grow?

 

 Why It Matters

 Composting helps:

 

• Reduce waste 
• Improve soil health 
• Support wildlife 

 

Question : What wildlife have you spotted in your garden or at school?

 

Remember…

Your garden waste isn’t rubbish… it’s the start of something growing!

 

Thank you from all of us at West Coast Composting Ltd! By putting the right things in your bin, you're helping us make better compost.