Home Composting

Composting Bin Resource List

This information can help you choose home composting bins for your communities and homes.  While backyard composting can be done successfully without a bin or with a homemade bin, some communities offer free or discounted bins to residents as an incentive to compost at home.

A successful program to promote home composting can reduce a community's cost of solid waste collection and disposal.  In addition to bins, some communities offer technical assistance programs, such as workshops and a hotline service that helps their residents to get started and continue using their bins correctly.

Bins vary in terms of cost, size, ease of use, and rodent resistance, all of which may be considered in selecting a bin. There are several broad categories of bins, the suppliers of which you can find on our compost bin suppliers page.

• Hoops and Square Bins: These are usually the least expensive type of bin.  Because hoops can be rolled, they are also easier to ship.  Some hoops have tops and lids which help in making them more rodent resistant.  Square wire or plastic bins are like hoops except that they usually have supports in four corners, making them a square rather than round shape.
• Cones and Boxes: These bins are typically of a solid construction with lids and bottoms.  Some have doors at the bottom for harvesting finished compost. Cone/box-type bins tend to be more expensive than hoops.
• Stacking units: These are box-shaped with sections that come apart.
• Tumblers: These are self-contained barrels, drums, or balls that rotate for mixing the composting materials.

For more information on compost bins, visit our Backyard Composting Resources page.  Manufacturers of bins made of recycled content can be located by using our searchable database at http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/RCP/.

Worm composters have not been included in this section.  For information on worm composting, see our worms page.

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