The City of Orillia is offering up free compost to residents.

The city normally charges $10 per metric tonne for the compost, but all this week it's free to pick up at the Orillia Landfill.

“The compost is great at helping plants grow, helping soil retain water. It's just amazing stuff,” says Greg Preston, spokesperson for the City of Orillia.

The compost is a combination of yard organics and green bin material and a city of 30,000 produces a lot of organic waste.

“Since the green bin program started, we've noticed a 30 per cent increase in the amount of green bin and yard organics that have been set out at the curb,” says Preston. “So we're seeing a lot more coming here and diverted from landfill.”

Landfill operations speed up the breakdown of the organic material by turning it and adding water. It takes about eight months for the discarded food and yard material to eventually become quality compost and resident Ron Reeves says it's worth it.

“It's very good stuff. Sometimes when you get the mulch you just don't know what you’re getting, but this is very good compost,” he says.

The free compost program runs until Saturday.