Composting Toilets require no water, no electricity and they can be sited almost anywhere, and at the end of the process you are left with safe, useable human compost. Absolutely perfect for the garden or allotment, simple and effective, this is recycling at it’s best.

Compost toilets will work better the longer that you have them, and it will normally take anything up to a year to get your useable compost. There are some things that you can do to speed up the process however, including emptying it into a composting box – which could reduce the time by up to half.

If your composting toilet is set up and used properly you shouldn’t end up with any unpleasant smells or flies. The best way to do this is to get an effective urine separator- allowing the urine to run off into either a soak away or other container, where it can also be diluted with water and used as a fertilizer. Reducing the amount of moisture in the compost will prevent the ammonia smell that was once associated with composting toilets. So, as well as using a urine separator, you should add a handful of sawdust into the toilet after each use.

Most composting toilets are within the size guidelines set out by local authority and will not need planning permission. If you are having one installed on your own land, and are dealing with all of the waste by yourself, you should not have any problems with environmental health. However, if you use a soak away you should be careful that the water is not able to contaminate any waterways or surrounding ground. If you plan to set up the toilet on public ground- your allotment for example, then you should definitely check with the local authority before you go ahead. If you can show that you won’t be having a negative effect on the environment, they really have no reason for having a problem with it.