Increasing interest in the sustainability of oil palm cultivation has led to greater use of oil palm waste as a substitute for inorganic fertiliser and to improve soil health. Waste materials from oil palm mill process include palm oil mill effluent (POME), decanter cake and empty fruit bunches are co-composted. Co-composting these wastes would not only solve myriad of environmental issues, it could potentially improve soil quality and fresh fruit bunch production for sustainable palm oil production. Therefore, a field experiment was initiated to study the effects of compost and inorganic fertiliser on soil chemical properties and fresh fruit bunch yield of oil palm planted on a sedentary soil in Peninsula Malaysia. Application of either compost or fertiliser alone increased fresh fruit bunch yield, from 23.24 to 25.49 or 25.55 t FFB ha-1 yr-1. Soil chemical properties such as soil pH, organic C, total N and P, available P, exchangeable cations (K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+) and cation exchange capacity were significantly increased by the application of compost, making compost an effective organic material and nutrient source for improving the health of soils under oil palm cultivation.