| The opinions shared here are based upon my own experiences working with compost and may not be shared by all. Is it okay to compost cardboard? [and paper] |
| A hotly debated topic in the world of composting evolves around whether you should or shouldn’t include cardboard in your compost pile. For the record, I include cardboard, although I have a few restrictions: I only use matt-like brown cardboard stripped of sellotape and labels. I don’t use plastic-coated, glossy, or heavily dyed or coloured [think ink] cardboard or glitzy [decorative paper], glossy, shiny magazine paper. The latter ingredients are sent off to the recyclers. I will use toilet and kitchen roll tubes, plain egg cartons, and plain uncoated takeaway boxes like pizza boxes. I will also compost kitchen paper and newspapers, although they are all shredded first, where possible. Recycling centres don’t like to accept contaminated cardboard or paper, so I will add it to my compost pile as long as it is not restriction-limited. However, if it contains food contaminants, I will compost it as it will break down with the high heat. I will use the brown boxes from Amazon, but where can I remove the branded tape they use? Also, I will use paper. 75% of all cardboard is shredded with a shredder. The remainder is either used whole on raised beds in winter as soil protectors, where it will decompose naturally, and what is left will then be added to the compost, or I will leave cardboard outside in giant bags exposed to the elements and then use my hands to tear pieces off and add those into the heaps. If I were a licensed commercial composter in the UK, I would face more challenges regarding what I could and would add to the composting systems. Therefore, I might opt for the more straightforward method of not adding anything but green garden and kitchen waste. Ideally, all paper and cardboard waste products must be classified as clean paper waste commercially, as opposed to contaminated waste—ingredients mixed with industrial [plastic/steel/printing dyes], green and food waste. However, I am not producing compost on a commercial level. While I make thousands of litres of ready-to-use sieved compost every year, I am not selling it but using it for myself or gifting it to others. Breakdown periods: Generally, shredded newspaper and cardboard will take a month to break down organically in a turned compost, whilst a torn dry card can take four to six weeks, as opposed to a wet and or damp card, which takes three weeks in a frequently turned compost. Cardboard and paper, either wet or dry, torn or shredded in a cold compost pile, take considerably longer to break down, with a time frame of ten to fifteen months. Shredded cardboard and paper can also be added to a vermiculture bin [wormery] – worms love cardboard. Cardboard is a significant carbon source. Composting relies upon two leading ingredient families: green and brown or carbon and nitrogen. If no natural carbon ingredients were available for your compost construction—these being Brown and woody materials such as fall leaves, bark chips, twigs, shredded branches, and sawdust—then shredded paper and cardboard are great gap fillers. However, they can also be added to your heaps all year round. Can you use paper and cardboard in the compost heap? Yes. |
Earthly Comforts 
I enjoyed your thorough post on what should be composted. We have three bins: garbage, recycling, and yard waste. I used to think I had a good understanding of what goes into each. But over the years I been frustrated by the apathy and negligence of the younger people in the household. And my wife is very educated about the process but interprets the rules differently. One type of item can end up in all three of our containers on any given week.
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That happens over here as well Geoff, not so much our household, but many residents in the UK are oft confused as to what is to be put where.
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I can vouch for this, this weekend I tried to dig out some weeds from the compost heap and found quite a bit of cardboard still from over a year ago.
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Exactly Gary, cardboard without assistance will be around for a long time.
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How interesting, Rory. I like that cardboard can be utilized for composting and not just thrown away.
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Hey Eugenia, l am totally for composting and recycling as much as l can. I only today created and introduced a cardboard slurry bin which will make the composting process even faster 🙂
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Good for you, Rory! The more you can tweak, the easier the job will be.
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That’s it exactly, tweaking to make time more efficient 🙂
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