Win a state-of-the-art compost bin!

Find out how to enter the competition, part of our campaign to encourage more people to help the environment by composting their kitchen and garden waste.

More and more people across South Yorkshire are doing their bit to help the environment by composting their kitchen and garden waste.

A new campaign to encourage even more residents to get the bug is being launched by the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership, with some great competition prizes on offer.

Up for grabs in a social media competition are high speed state-of-the-art Hotbin composters which can produce organic homemade compost in as little as 30-90 days.

Instead of throwing away garden and food waste, it can be transformed into a top quality fertiliser for plants and vegetables, suppressing plant diseases and pests, and reducing the need for chemical fertilisers.

Composting for just one year can save greenhouse gases equivalent to all the carbon dioxide produced by a kettle for one year, or a washing machine for three months.

The launch of this year’s campaign will coincide with International Compost Awareness Week from the 1st to 7th May 2022.

Residents of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield are invited to take part in the competition which will be run across all Waste Less South Yorkshire social media platforms.  Entrants will need to fill in a short form and the closing date is 23rd May.  There are composting blogs on the wasteless-sy.co.uk website and campaign posts can also be found by searching #SouthYorkshireComposts on social media.

Abi Reid is Community Education Liaison Officer based at Manvers, the award-winning waste treatment facility at Manvers which diverts 97 per cent of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham household waste from landfill.

“Composting at home gets more use out of garden and food waste and saves space in bins and money on fertilisers for the garden, so it’s beneficial for the environment and your pocket,” she said.

“We know many people are trying to reduce their carbon footprint, and home composting is one way of doing this which brings extra benefits in the garden.

“There is lots of information available on how to get started, what to put in the bin and what not to put in there, and we’ve found that once people do begin home composting they become enthusiastic advocates for it.”

If you’re not lucky enough to win a compost bin, they can be bought at supermarkets, garden centres and onlne.

Previous competition winner Lynn Evans from Doncaster is testatment to this.  “We’ve been composting for a few years now as we have an allotment,” she said. “The Hotbin was easy to set up following the enclosed instructions.  I definitely recommend composting as it’s a great way to add nutrients to the soil.  Thank you for the wonderful competition and prize.”

Lynn Evans Competition winner

Note to Editors:  The waste treatment facility at Manvers processes around a quarter of a million tonnes of leftover waste a year from 340,000 homes across Barnsley Doncaster and Rotherham, turning it into useful products rather than sending it to landfill.

For further information contact Abi Reid or Rebecca Wilson on 07814 302297 or abi.reid@renewi.com and rebecca.wilson@renewi.com

Published: 28th April 2022