Selling compost to public, whats the max volume/L you can sell without a licence?

[Brady33333]

Hi,

We are a arable farm in kent and have a fair sized composting site in which collect lots of manures from the local zoo and horse yards , mixed with wood chips etc.

We are big into spreading it onto our ground As a source of nitrogen - but would really like to start bagging it up and selling it to the public!

Does anyone have any idea of limits in volume without a compost license?

Also would we have to call it soil improver?

Any help would be greatly Appricated - any ideas of where to get info from!-

 

[Wastexprt]

Morning,

The limits without a permit restrict you to 50 tonnes at any one time. That includes storage before and after composting. There's loads of info out there, but be careful it can be a bit of a nightmare. It looks as though you have more than the exemption allows, so you would need a permit, which needs planning, a WAMITAB qualification amongst a few other things.

It's difficult to say definitively as I would need to know quite a bit more information.

If you want drop me a message and I can come and see you and advise you better.

Have a good day,

 

[Brady33333]

Hi,

Thanks for your help!

Basically the main bulk we will still use on the farm, but we just want to bag enough up to sell via farm gate - and perhaps supply a few local farm shops, but struggling to find any information and what legislation we need to abide by if you see what I'm saying?

IE how much we can sell like this, before getting to complicated with licenses and how we would have to market it. I've read if you sell it as soil improver rather than compost some of this can be avoided ?

Thanks

 

[Wastexprt]

If you have a permit already to compost then selling some to the public doesn't have a limit, but in order for it to be a product as opposed to a waste would need to comply with PAS100. This would then mean that the compost could be spread on your farm without the need for deployments.

 

[warksfarmer]

Also think about Mrs Smith buying a bag for her garden. She leaves the bag by the back door and 'little jonny' opens the back and eats some, then get e.coli poisoning.

Its probably no worth doing unless your going to do it in a big way. Go and have a look in a garden centre because the bags of just compost are very cheap where as mix it with fertilisers and you can ramp the price up considerably. I've seen price variations from £1.99 for 10kg up to £15.99 for 10kg.