Re: the green household waste and that collected at the municipal tips
I live in Cheshire East and the council tells me:-
"We will take your food and garden waste to sealed tunnels which are temperature controlled to optimise the composting process. We leave the material in the tunnels for about a week where it is pasteurised, killing any pathogens. Then we move the material to a 'maturation area' where we leave it for 8 weeks when it is ready to use as compost. We transfer the compost off site for use in agriculture and horticulture. We have no plans to make the compost available to residents."
I have heard several times on Gardeners Question time that some councils give away bags of compost free to people taking waste to the green recycling tips or that other authorities give some away free or for a nominal fee - is this the case in your area?