All About Your Kitchen Composter

The definition of kitchen composting is the process by which the treatment of solid organic waste is the controlled biological decomposition of raw compost materials to form compost. Its aim is biological decomposition and breaking down of organic substance produced high quality compost. This process can easily be done via a kitchen composter.

In kitchen composting, however, organic vegetable waste is properly processed to form compost, it can be put to good use in (peri-) urban agriculture and  horticulture as a fertilizer and soil improver.  On  one hand,  farmers  and gardeners  profit from a valuable means of  production, and on the other hand re-use of organic waste contributes  to  a  permanent  improvement  in the waste  management situation  in cities.  However, this presupposes  that  urban  waste  management  is  integrated  consistently  with  (peri-) urban  horticulture and/or agriculture.

Materials of various sources suitable for a kitchen composter utilizing organic waste from households are fruit and vegetable wastes, leaves, egg and nut shells, grass cuttings, tobacco , tea leaves and coffee tree and bush pruning,  vegetable remains,  salad leftovers, fruit remains, potato peelings, coffee ground, tea bags, cut flowers, kitchen roll, tissues, packing paper, bread crusts, meat leftovers, fish leftovers, bones.

Kitchen composting is done by determining the composting site and its preparation by chopping the kitchen waste materials and shredding it to 5-10 cm. These are then stacked into a compost heap, and then covered with coarse wood chippings. The whole of the organic material should be mixed well with nutrient rich waste (kitchen waste, grass cuttings) and with nutrient poor waste (wood cuttings, leaves). The wet material is also mix with coarse dry material (wood chippings). Spread hand-high mixed waste. Spread additives (as required). Materials are then moistened like a squeezed out sponge.

Further layers of waste are added in the same way building up a height  not to exceed 1.5m, but  there is no limit to the length.

Cover with air-permeable material, e.g. with straw or reed mats, banana leaves, old carpets.