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Would you buy "green waste"?

SueAtooSueAtoo Posts: 380
in Tools and techniques
There is a green waste provider locally who source and compost from Dorset gardens, would you buy green waste compost? This is from their website - 
  • Purity: Substantially free of physical contaminants, viable weed seeds and pathogens.
  • Potentially Toxic Elements: within acceptable limits.
Substantiaaly free ??
Acceptable limits  ??
East Dorset, new (to me) rather neglected garden.
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  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I wouldn't consider it even if they claimed it was 100% free. Mad Cow disease was spread because some genius decided it would be more profitable to reduce the temperature of the process.. I wouldn't trust the green waste companies not to do the same.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    edited March 2023
    They would be lying if they claimed anything else though, it would be impossible to guarantee that it didn't have any of the offending items present. I don't think any of us could make a stronger claim for any of our home produced compost. "purity" is a very odd choice of word for such a variable product but they should be able quote whether their product meets the PAS100 standard.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Would I buy it?  Yes, I’d give it a try if the price was reasonable. If I was not happy with what I bought I wouldn’t buy it again. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Reading that, my answer is "no". Our local tip sells bags of green waste compost for £3.50 a bag, but even though it was "cooked" to a higher temperature than in a domestic compost bin, l still wouldn't buy it. At least l know what goes into my compost bins.
  • CrankyYankeeCrankyYankee Posts: 504
    Our local landfill has a separate area for brush/lawn & garden waste that they compost, then offer free to anyone who wants it.  I've tried it once, and never again.  The compost looked amazing, but it smelled like dog poo and was full of small bits of glass, plastic, and other non-compostable materials.  I know what goes into my compost heap, so I'll stick with that. 
    New England, USA
    Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
  • rowlandscastle444rowlandscastle444 Posts: 2,612
    Knowing what goes into my own compost bin, I would try a couple of bags. But if I found it was contaminated, I'd return it to my council green waste bin, leave it to be collected, and write it off as a bad choice. 

    But if it seemed fine, I'd risk buying more - but only a couple of bags at a time, knowing the quality could change from bag to bag.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
     I do sometimes buy bagged potting compost that claims to be made from green waste but i don't have high expectations of it and I weed out anything that appears in my pots that I don't recognise. I wouldn't rule out green waste organic matter for soil improvement but I would test it on a small and easily monitored/accessed area before using it for mulching the borders where any weeds could get entrenched before I noticed them. My own compost has seeds in it but they're things that are already in the garden - toadflax, hairy bittercress, silver birch from the tree across the road and so on - that I'm probably never going to be completely free of.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • tigerburnietigerburnie Posts: 131
    edited March 2023
    I have a suspicion that some peat free composts have domestic composted material in it, some one who claimed to be in the know told me it has been used for some time, seemingly councils have been selling the garden waste. My local council gives it away as "soil improver", I used some around 7 years ago to help fill my new raised beds.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    That's why people are finding plastic and glass in commercial compost. Some bags even warn you to wear gloves when handling it 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I have bought it for mulching but there was quite a bit of sandy loam in it. It fidn't grow weeds or kill anything.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
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