Figuring out what can and can’t be composted gets confusing sometimes, and we’re here to help! The good news: lots of cardboard is compostable! However, not ALL cardboard can be turned back into soil.
We created these guidelines to help you determine whether your cardboard is ready to be composted or if it should go into your recycling bin instead. We accept cardboard that is:
- Uncoated (not shiny) with no heavy dyes; unfortunately, that shiny cardboard is coated in plastic that can’t be composted
- Broken down; intact boxes take up valuable space in our trailer and require additional labor to break down
- Free from tape or labels; these are also not compostable
More good news: we can also take your cardboard pizza boxes! Recycling facilities can’t accept cardboard that has been soiled with grease, cheese, and other food waste. Fortunately for us, all of those materials are compostable!
We are happy to pick up cardboard that meets the above guidelines for our residential clients, and we also accept cardboard at our free drop sites.
7 Comments
Those are really cute cats.
How about paper, such as standard office paper. Non coated, staple and plastic free?
Amazon boxes?
Will the grease on the pizza boxes be harmful to compost?
I have a restaurant and we compost some of our cardboard, especially the boxes that get greasy or dirty and become unfit for the recycling stream. The grease on cardboard has not caused any problems for us.
Are the cardboard separators in apple boxes compostable?