Alternatives to Home Composting

• Wormeries:

• Bokashi Bin:

• Green Cone:

• Green Johanna:

Wormeries

This system is designed to digest kitchen waste such as fruit and vegetables peelings and a small amount of paper and cardboard. The wormery takes time to establish and will start to work at its best once the worms are settled and breeding after a year.

Note: You can add small amounts of other kitchen wastes such as meat, fish, cooked leftovers, dairy products and bread, however this would require you to purchase specialist worms which are not normally included in a standard kit.

A standard wormery comes in a number of sections which, when stacked on top of each other create a number of layers through which the food waste will pass. The food waste is placed in the top layer where it starts to be digested, as this happens the waste will move down the layers until the finished soil improver is ready for removal this is often referred to as "worm casts".  

The wormery will not produce the large volumes of soil improver that a compost bin will produce, however it will produce a valuable liquid fertiliser which can be drained off using the tap at the base of the wormery and then used in the garden after it has been diluted (1 part to 10 parts water).

REMEMBER to drain the liquid off at regular intervals or your worms could drown!

Bokashi Bin

This system digests all kitchen wastes including fruit and vegetable scraps, raw and cooked meat or fish, dairy products and other organic kitchen waste e.g. bread etc. You cannot use the Bokashi bin for any garden waste or bones.

A standard Bokashi system consists of 2 bins and a bag of Bran additive, however the additive is an ongoing requirement for the system to work effectively. You will need to purchase this (approx £40 per year).

The Bokashi system works by using a fermentation process. Each bin as an inner lining which is where you place your kitchen waste, it is then compacted to remove any excess air and then some of the Bokashi mix (a mixture of Bran and micro-organisms) is added. This process is repeated until the bin is full. Once the first bin is full you should start to use the second bins.  

The fermentation process will take approx. 2 weeks after which you will have a liquid collected in the bottom bin, which can be diluted and used as a fertiliser for your plants.  The remaining contents can then either be buried in the garden where they will finish breaking down or added to your compost heap. 

Green Cone

The Green Cone system is a food waste digester and can digest all types of kitchen waste, including fruit and vegetable scraps, raw and cooked meat or fish, bones, dairy products and other organic kitchen waste e.g. tea bags, bread etc.  You cannot use the Green Cone for any garden waste.

The Green Cone system comes in 2 main parts:

1. The green cone, which is visible above ground and allows you access to the unit.

2. A basket, which houses the food waste is buried underground. 

The system works using an aerobic digestion process. This process uses micro-organisms and bacteria to breakdown the waste into water, carbon dioxide and nutrients, which pass through the basket in to the surrounding soil. The process only produces a small amount of residue, which should simply need removing once every 2 to 3 years. The process relies on the double skinned cone above ground to trap the suns warmth, which helps the growth of beneficial micro-organisms and bacteria.

In a healthy Green Cone you will see a blue/grey fur on the food waste, this is the bacteria doing its work.

Green Johanna

The Green Johanna system is a 'hot' composter so it can compost both garden and kitchen waste. To get the best compost from your Green Johanna you should add two parts cooked or uncooked food waste (including meat, fish, bones, dairy products, vegetables and fruit) to one part garden waste. The system will take approximately 6 months to start producing compost after which it can produce rich compost all year round.

The Green Johanna is a fully enclosed hot composting system, which uses the suns energy to aid the composting process. The Green Johanna is a sealed unit, which will prevent unwanted pests getting in to the bin whilst still allowing air to circulate and helpful creatures such as worms to get in.

Leicester City Council unfortunately do not offer the above alternatives to home composting at subsidised rates. For more information on these alternatives please visit please visit the 

• composting pages on recyclenow  website

• getcomposting.comwebsite

• or any other gardening based websites

• or your local garden or DIY centre.

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