Completely new to composting 🙂 i have a closed compost bin and for now ive been adding veggie scraps, tea bags, garden waste and cut up cardboard. I wasnt sure if i can compost these cardboards as theres a glossy layer.
I think most people composting would say no to cardboards with treated surfaces. Some go as far as skipping all inks except black.
Given how abundant it is, whether there are forever chemicals like PFAS in “untreated” paper and cardboard is still an open question.
Probably depends on how you plan to use that compost as well. If using for edible fruits/vegetables then you need to be more careful. If using for ornamental plants then less so.
rainbow2911
If you scratch it and it’s got kind of a powdery coating then it will compost. You could also try soaking a piece in water to see if there’s a plastic film that comes away. I will say that I shred and use this kind of card in my compost and I’ve not run across any problems.
Recent-Mirror-6623
From the photo it doesn’t look like a treated surface, just regular cardboard with some printing. If the entire box was coloured I’d probably send it to recycling but that looks like grade-A worm food.
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I think most people composting would say no to cardboards with treated surfaces. Some go as far as skipping all inks except black.
Given how abundant it is, whether there are forever chemicals like PFAS in “untreated” paper and cardboard is still an open question.
Probably depends on how you plan to use that compost as well. If using for edible fruits/vegetables then you need to be more careful. If using for ornamental plants then less so.
If you scratch it and it’s got kind of a powdery coating then it will compost. You could also try soaking a piece in water to see if there’s a plastic film that comes away. I will say that I shred and use this kind of card in my compost and I’ve not run across any problems.
From the photo it doesn’t look like a treated surface, just regular cardboard with some printing. If the entire box was coloured I’d probably send it to recycling but that looks like grade-A worm food.