Composting paper
constant-gardener
Posts: 13
The place I'm working is closing down and we're left with stacks of carbonless copy paper. I was hoping to compost it down but can't seem to find any info anywhere as to whether it's ok to put on the compost heap. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance
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I add shredded paper to my compost with no trouble. I have more problem with teabag outlere breaking down than paper
I think the old 'carbon' paper would have been a no no for the the compost.
I know the carbonless copy papers have a variety of chemicals in them. I think I would be inclined to find out which chemicals are in the paper you have (perhaps phone the manufacturer) before making any decision about composting as some of the possible chemical constituents like phenolic resins I'm not sure would break down in the composting process.
I generally bung on anything, cardboard paper ordinary printer paper, though a think copy paper needs to be checked out.
Also try adding it between any green or vegetation otherwise it will just be a gooey mess. Alternate. I always shred private documents and add them to my compost as well as some cardboard and tissues interspersed with the green stuff. Worms don't differentiate!
Thank you everyone for your responses. Seems like it's a bit of a unknown, perhaps I was right to be dubious. I guess I'll have to follow Gemma's advice and see if I can contact the manufacturer, and yes Edd it does seem strange that so little information is available on the chemical makeup, shame because my compost heap is really lacking brown material and I thought that could have been perfect
There could be some seriously icky chemicals in there so best be cautious, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. If you are lacking browns, do the rounds for cardboard boxes at the smaller local shops, most will let us take as many as we want.