What should I do when my compost no longer rots down and my bin is full?

It could be that your compost has stopped rotting down because the compost in the bottom of your bin is ready. Have a look through the hatch opening. If the compost looks brown, smells earthy sweet and you can no longer recognise the materials you put in, then it is ready. Either dig the compost out via the hatch or lift the bin off the heap. The heap will not collapse, it will stay in the shape of the compost bin. Some of the materials on the top may not be quite ready, in which case you can just fork these back into the now empty bin.

If you find that none of the compost is ready, lift the bin cleanly off the heap. You can then cover the heap with a piece of old tarpaulin or carpet weighed down with bricks and leave it to mature. You now have an empty bin that you can start re-filling. Hopefully by the time the bin is full again your heap will be ready to use.

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