If you're new to composting it can be difficult to know which bin is best for your home and lifestyle. Check out some of these options.
What is a compost bin?
A compost bin is a container that has been designed to store organic waste materials (food, garden and paper waste) as they decompose to become nutrient-rich compost.
A good bin will retain heat and moisture, helping to produce a healthy variety of micro-organisms busily breaking down your waste.
Which composter is best for me?
Want to compost more food waste?
If you want to compost most of your food waste, think about a food waste composter or digester. These are designed to accept foods that regular garden composters don’t, such as cooked food, meat and fish, so your food waste doesn't need to be separated out and can all go in the compost bin together.
Green Johanna Food Waste Composter
- Produces compost, usually within 4-6 months
- Also accepts garden waste
- Added waste should be a balance of nitrogen-rich content, commonly called Greens, (food waste/fresh grass cuttings/fresh green leaves) and carbon-rich content, commonly called Browns (chopped branches and twigs/wood chips/dead leaves/shredded paper and cardboard)
- Comes with aerator stick provided to aerate the contents regularly
- Ideally placed on soil or grass
- One Johanna accepts the average food waste of a household of five and the garden waste from an average-sized garden
- With hot composting techniques, higher temperatures are reached than with regular composting
- Recommended as a Best Buy by Gardeners’ World magazine and by Which?
- Read more here.
Want super-fast compost?
HOTBIN is an innovative hot composter that can produce top-quality compost in just 30 to 90 days.
Reaching higher temperatures enables the HOTBIN to churn through greater quantities of waste, and at faster rates too - making it the perfect hot composter for larger families who have more waste to recycle into compost for the garden.
Green Cone Food Waste Digester
- No turning or stirring required
- Uses solar energy so requires a sunny spot
- Must be dug into a hole in free-draining soil (not clay or chalk)
- Accepts all food waste, even bones
- Doesn’t accept garden waste or paper waste
- Doesn’t produce compost – instead it produces nutritious water which drains from its underground basket and feeds surrounding soil
- Comes with kitchen caddy provided
- Read more here.
Best budget buy
Among EvenGreener's best-selling compost bins is the Blackwall compost converter, available in two sizes - 220 litre and 330 litre - and two colours - black and green.
This bin was voted Best Budget Buy by Gardeners' World magazine.
Discover why this is the UK's best selling compost bin - browse the full Blackwall range here.
Easy aeration? Get ready to tumble
Compost needs regular aeration - if that doesn't appeal to you, then consider a tumbler. Compost tumblers allow you to aerate your compost the easiest way possible - by turning the handle.
The Maze Compost Tumbler has large sliding doors to its two composting chambers, which means easy access when adding waste and harvesting the compost. The clever gear and handle system makes easy work of aerating your compost.
Browse the Maze Compost Tumbler range here.
Wooden bins
Wooden bins suit gardeners who prefer a more natural, rustic look for their garden.
The Budget 439 Litre Wooden Compost Bin (below) is made from a combination of European spruce, pine, and fir, and requires no tools for assembly.
The Beehive-style 211 Litre Wooden Compost Bin (below) features aeration vents to maximise oxygenation.
Need a larger compost bin?
If you have a larger family or bigger garden and want greater volumes of compost, check out the Thermo-King range, available up to 900 litre capacity.
- Made from specially-engineered Thermolen® to offer outstanding insulation
- Offers excellent heat retention to aid composting
- Optimised ventilation system helps maintain ideal temperatures
- Two large, hinged access panels mean the bin can be easily filled and emptied
- Easy-lock assembly system makes putting it together a breeze - you won't even need any tools
- Optional base plate available
- We find these bins especially good for turning large quantities of leaves into leaf mould.
Tight for space?
If lack of space is an issue for you, check out composters that suit smaller spaces here.
Explore all our best-selling compost bins here