If you have a garden, no matter what size, you really should have a compost bin. With a composter, recycling your organic waste is easy, really satisfying and great for your garden. A wooden compost bin is both breathable and insulating. A plastic compost bin will keep the heat in and pests out. A tumbler composter will speed up the composting process. Whichever type of compost bin you choose, you’ll soon be turning your garden waste and organic household waste into rich crumbly compost to nourish your plants.
Here we review some of the best compost bins available:
Garden Composter – 300 Litres
Our Rating: 4.5/5
- RRP: £43.99
- Capacity: 300 litres
- Integrated hinged lid
- Hatch door for collecting compost
- Dimensions: Height 83cm, Width 61cm, Depth 61cm
We like:
The 300 litre Garden Composter is a best seller and one of our favourites. It’s made from tough and durable plastic and with a 300 litre capacity it’s a good large size. Delivered flat-packed, it’s easy to put together – the four panels and the lid simply click into place. Once assembled it’s sturdy enough to endure the rigours of regular use. Its square shape is practical and fits neatly in the corner of the garden and the neutral grey/green colouring is nicely discrete.
A hinged lid makes it easy to dump your green waste, whilst keeping pests out and essential heat in. The good sized hatch door in the base is removable giving easy access to the compost when ready. If you want a high-quality compost bin at a good price, you can’t do much better than this 300 litre garden composter. 4 and a half stars.
We’re not so keen on:
Although straightforward to put together, assembly instructions are limited to just two diagrams on the label. The hinged lid doesn’t prop up by itself.
Available from:
Neudorff Thermal Compost Bin – 530 Litres
Our Rating: 4.5/5
- RRP: £99.99
- Capacity: 530 litres
- Double-walled insulation for faster composting
- Quick and easy to put together
- Made from recycled plastic
- Dimensions: Width 82cm, Depth 82cm, Height 115cm
We like:
The 530 litre Neudorff compost bin is an ideal size for medium to large gardens and will efficiently turn your garden waste into nutritious compost. The double-walled construction keeps the heat in, helping to speed up the composting process. The plastic construction will keep pests at bay, and there’s a ground level hatch so you can easily shovel out the compost you’ve made.
This compost bin is sturdy, a good size, weatherproof and UV resistant, so should provide you with many years of service. Assembly is quick and easy; line up the side walls and fasten together using the supplied toggle clips. Put it on a level piece of ground and square it off, then fit the double lid using the supplied hinge pins.
If you have a lot of green waste and need a practical and easy to assemble solution, the 530 litre Neudorff is a good buy.
We’re not so keen on:
The ground-level hatch can bulge when the composter is full.
Available from:
Plug Wooden Composter – 700 Litres
Our Rating: 4/5
- RRP: £59.99
- Weather resistant pressure treated wooden panels
- Easy to assemble flat pack kit
- Dimensions: 100cm wide x 100cm deep x 70cm high
- Capacity: 700 litres
We like:
If you don’t want a Dalek at the bottom of your garden, a good alternative is a wooden compost bin. This model from Plug will blend naturally into any garden. It comes in an easy to assemble flat pack kit – there are no nails, no screws and no holes to dig, the 24 panels just slot together. The weather resistant wood is pressure treated for strength and durability.
This compost bin offers a huge 700 litre capacity and as such would suit medium to large gardens. The gaps between the panels allow plenty of air to get into your mix, essential for effective composting, but clearly not rodent resistant. If you have the space and a bulk of material to kick start it, this is a great compost system.
We’re not so keen on:
This style of compost bin doesn’t offer easy access to the finished compost, either via a hatch or a removable panel. You could overcome this by leaving out a slat at the bottom. Or, what a lot of people do is put 2 of these compost bins next to each other. One to fill, one to leave mature.
Some customers have commented that the wood arrives damp from the preserve spray. As a result it can be tricky to assemble as the joints may have swollen. The best thing to do in this instance is lay the slats flat and allow them to dry out for a couple of days before assembling.
Available from:
Eco King Compost Bin – 600 Litres
Our Rating: 4/5
- RRP: £98.99
- Weather resistant pressure treated wooden panels
- Simple, no tools required assembly
- Dimensions: 80cm wide x 80cm deep x 95cm high
- Capacity: 600 litres
We like:
The Eco King is a large, easy to use compost bin that is straightforward to put together. It is made of durable plastic with specially positioned holes that allow air to penetrate to speed up the composting process.
The compost bin offers easy access for both putting material in and taking compost out. Two large doors on the top of the compost bin make it easy to add and turn your compost material. At the base of the bin there’s a large hatch to the front and another to the rear allowing access to the finished compost. Bear in mind that if you want to position your composter up against a wall or fence, you should turn it 90 degrees or you’ll only be able to access the finished compost from one side.
Assembly is quick and simple, you just push the sides together and they click into place with no tools required. Position your composter on flat ground in a sunny spot and you should be up and running in under half an hour.
At 600 litres, the Eco King is big enough to handle green waste from a medium to a large garden. If you need to increase your composting capacity further, you could purchase a second bin and position them neatly side by side.
We’re not so keen on:
Although the unit is sturdy enough, the lid can get blown off on windy days. However, this is easily fixed with a couple of cable ties.
The limitations of the snap together assembly are revealed when the compost bin is full, as it can bulge at the joins.