GARDENERS who have been doing their bit to help the environment by recycling green waste can benefit from their efforts by collecting free compost next week.

West Oxfordshire District Council will hand out more than 10 tonnes of compost at The Leys recreation ground in Witney on Friday, June 27.

It will also offer food waste bins, kitchen caddy liners, recycling box nets and recipe books from the Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

Household composting bins will be available at a discounted price of £10.

The council collected more than 10,000 tonnes of garden waste in the district last year, which was processed into compost at Agrivert’s waste management site at Radford Farm, near Enstone.

Residents should bring their own bags to collect the compost between noon and 3pm.

The council says about a third of household rubbish is organic matter which can be composted and diverting it from landfill sites reduces pollution from rotting waste.

The council’s cabinet member for environment, David Harvey, said: “We have been collecting food and garden waste free from residents’ homes since 2010.

“The compost giveaway is our way to give a little something back to say ‘thank you’ for recycling. If successful, we hope to hold more events around the district.”

Waste and recycling officer Sian Stokes said: “Home composting is still the cheapest and most environmentally-friendly way to deal with garden and food waste, such as peelings, as it requires no transport or processing.

“Composting is simple to do and the end result will bring many benefits to your garden, improving soil and helping cut plant disease.

“Our master composter will also be on hand to answer any questions residents may have.”