Understanding how to compost dog poo can be a tricky topic for many dog owners. Don't worry though, we're here to help!
Why Compost Dog Poo?
Composting dog poo can help reduce waste sent to landfill and incineration and can also produce nutrient-rich soil that can be used to grow non-edible plants in your garden.
Know the Risks & Hazards
However, it is not as straightforward as composting other organic waste, like food waste.
Dog poo has special risks - it can harbour pathogens that can infect humans, like E. coli, Salmonella, and Toxocara to name a few. Pregnant women, children, elderly and immunocompromised people are most at risk. It can also contain antibiotic resistant bacteria and veterinary drug residues that are toxic to insects (read more here).
It's also important to understand that little is known about the safety of home composting dog poo or what conditions are required to eliminate all the potential risks. Until we know more, extra safety precautions are advised.
How do I compost dog poo?
Composting dog poo is similar to composting other organic materials, such as food scraps and garden waste, but there are a few important differences.
1. Get a compost bin specifically for dog poo
You can use a compost bin specifically designed for dog waste, or you can use a regular compost bin.
Location: Away from any edible plants, children access and watercourses. Ideally in a sunny spot where it will get hot.
You should have a dedicated bin just for composting dog poo, separate from other composting activities.
2. Collect the dog poo
Use a poop scooper to collect the dog waste or empty it out from a poo bag.
Avoid putting biodegradable or even certified home compostable poo bags in the compost. Research shows even properly certified home compostable poo bags don't breakdown properly, contaminating the compost with microplastics. Biodegradable poo bags are different to compostable poo bags but aren't designed to biodegrade in compost. These poo bags do not add any nutrient value to the remaining compost and little is known about the impact of the inks and dyes used in them. Therefore it's better to put the poo straight into the compost with no poo bag!
Feel free to read our other blog posts to learn more on the pitfalls of "compostable" or "cornstarch" poo bags and why we ditched them and created ReSEAcled Poo Bags.
3. Add your carbon source
To facilitate the composting process and optimise effective sterilisation, it is necessary to incorporate relatively high levels of carbon. Faeces is predominantly composed of nitrogen, so it is imperative to balance this with a carbon-rich substance that aids in the decomposition of the waste.
Based on the most recent evidence, aim for a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of approximately 27-30:1 (Bryson, 2026). In practice, this means:
Use roughly equal parts dog poo and sawdust by weight.
If co-composting with food waste: Use roughly equal parts dog poo, food waste, and sawdust by weight.
This recent study showed adding food waste actually produced superior results.
If you need an alternative to sawdust as a carbon source, you can use dry leaves, straw, wood chips, or even small twigs; all of these materials are considered "brown" compost ingredients, providing a high carbon content to balance out the nitrogen-rich poo.
4. Monitor the temperature and turn regularly
Cover the pile to retain heat and moisture, and turn at least once a week to aerate and evenly distribute the heat. Reaching 60°C is a good sign and may help breakdown antibiotic resistant genes but what's more important for pathogen elimination is compost stability. This means compost should be fully broken down: dark, crumbly, and earthy-smelling with no recognisable original material.
5. Allow sufficient time
Based on the best available evidence, allow a minimum of 12 months before use to maximise the chances of eliminating possible pathogens and antibiotic resistant genes.
6. Use your compost
When the compost looks like dark, crumbly soil, it's ready to use!
Use for plants, such as shrubs, trees or ornamental plants. Never on edible plants, near watercourses, or in areas with children access.
Important Considerations
While composting likely reduces the quantity of harmful pathogens, there's still a risk of contamination, so it's best it's treated as such.
Also not all dog poo is suitable for composting.
Dog waste from dogs that are sick or on medication (like antibiotics) should not be composted.
Raw fed dogs are more likely to shed pathogens and antibiotic resistant bacteria, so generally it's not advised to compost their poo, especially if you are immunocompromised or pregnant.
Many common flea/tick treatments (such as afoxolaner, fluralaner and sarolaner) are excreted in the faeces, often in their active forms, and they can be highly toxic to insects. It is currently unknown whether these ecotoxic chemicals will persist in the resulting compost. Based on emerging research, veterinary advice has changed from blanket preventive treatment to risk-based treatment. So it's best to speak to your vet to develop an appropriate parasite control programme for your dog based on it's individual risk. But ideally opt for treatments that aren't excreted in the poo if composting it - make sure to tell your vet this!
Other precautions for safe composting:
- Wear gloves and always wash hands (with warm water and soap) and dry thoroughly after handling dog waste or compost
- Confine your dog compost bin to a specific area, out of reach of children
- Keep dog waste tools/clothing separate from other tools/clothing
- Don't let children near the compost or handle resulting compost
- Don’t use sawdust from pressure-treated wood
Conclusion
While composting dog poo is an excellent way to reduce waste and create nutrient-rich soil for your garden, it requires more attention than traditional composting and may not be for everyone due to the health and safety risks involved, as well as the space required.
If composting dog waste is not for you, then your dog's poo will be disposed of as general waste from regular bins or dog poo bins. This is because there are currently no industrial composting facilities available for dog waste in the UK.
If you cannot compost dog poo - the best (or least harmful) overall solution after weighing up the environmental and public health risks, is to bag it and bin it. Leaving dog poo in nature is a nuisance, hurts fragile habitats, destroys biodiversity, contaminates our soils and waterways, could spread disease and antibiotic resistance to animals and ultimately humans. We understand the frustration of having to use a 'harmful' plastic poo bags to do this job. That's why we've dedicated the last 3 years to finding the best bag for the bin.
Our award-winning solution, ReSEAcled Poo Bags, have undergone the most rigorous environmental assessment that's currently available - a 'cradle to grave life cycle assessment'. This means a third party has measured and independently verified their entire eco-footprint, from raw materials, to manufacture through to disposal, across 16 environmental categories.
We found ReSEAcled performed exceptionally well, and outperformed a standard corn-starch poo bag in 14/16 categories, such as carbon emissions, land and water use. In addition, each bag funds the recovery of one bottle's worth of ocean-bound plastic through our partnership with rePurpose Global. Alternatively, reusing single-use non-recyclable plastic from day to day life is also a brilliant option, as this plastic would be going to landfill/incineration anyway, giving it a second life as a poo bag keeps materials in circulation for longer which is environmentally beneficial.
ReSEAcled Poo Bags allow you to do the responsible thing: clean up after your dog while minimising your eco-impact and stopping plastic entering our ocean. A win for pets, people and the planet!
To learn more about composting you can visit the Royal Horticultural Society, who have lots of great articles written by experts.
References:
Bryson, E., Bricknell, L., Kift, R. and Anastasi, A., 2026. Sanitisation of dog faeces through home composting. Waste Management, 216, p.115469.
Emily Bryson, Lisa Bricknell, Ryan Kift, Amie Anastasi,
Disintegration of certified compostable plastic bags in outdoor household composting conditions, Waste Management, Volume 190, 2024, Pages 654-665,
Purkiss, D., Allison, A.L., Lorencatto, F., Michie, S. and Miodownik, M., 2022. The Big Compost Experiment: Using citizen science to assess the impact and effectiveness of biodegradable and compostable plastics in UK home composting. Frontiers in Sustainability, 3, p.942724.
Staley ZR, Woodbury BL, Stromer BS, Schmidt AM, Snow DD, Bartelt-Hunt SL, Wang B, Li X. Stockpiling versus Composting: Effectiveness in Reducing Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Resistance Genes in Beef Cattle Manure. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2021 Jul 27;87(16):e0075021. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00750-21. Epub 2021 Jul 27. PMID: 34085860; PMCID: PMC8315184.
Batchelor DJ, Tzannes S, Graham PA, Wastling JM, Pinchbeck GL, German AJ. Detection of endoparasites with zoonotic potential in dogs with gastrointestinal disease in the UK. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2008;55(2):99-104. doi: 10.1111/j.1865-1682.2007.01005.x. PMID: 18397497
Groat, E.F., Williams, N.J., Pinchbeck, G., Warner, B., Simpson, A. and Schmidt, V.M. (2022), UK dogs eating raw meat diets have higher risk of Salmonella and antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli faecal carriage. J Small Anim Pract, 63: 435-441
Runesvärd, E., Wikström, C., Fernström, L.-L. and Hansson, I. (2020), Presence of pathogenic bacteria in faeces from dogs fed raw meat-based diets or dry kibble. Veterinary Record, 187: e71-e71
Hellgren J, Hästö LS, Wikström C, Fernström LL, Hansson I. Occurrence of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium and Enterobacteriaceae in raw meat-based diets for dogs. Vet Rec. 2019 Apr 6;184(14):442
Viegas FM, Ramos CP, Xavier RGC, Lopes EO, Júnior CAO, Bagno RM, Diniz AN, Lobato FCF, Silva ROS. Fecal shedding of Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens, and Clostridioides difficile in dogs fed raw meat-based diets in Brazil and their owners' motivation. PLoS One. 2020 Apr 14;15(4):e0231275
