Since January, I’ve been dedicating this column to the importance of recycling organics, but there is one category of organics you need to be careful with before composting: paper.
Organic matter includes anything that was once living and therefore capable of decomposition. Removing organic matter from landfills is important because when these items decompose in the absence of oxygen, they release methane, a climate-changing gas many times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Applying this reasoning to their own trash, several readers emailed me with a question about non-recyclable paper. Paper is made from living organisms such as trees, so shouldn’t paper also be easily compostable? Is composting the best option for non-recyclable paper (such as food-contaminated paper or non-stick paper)?
The short answer is: “In most cases, no.” Some types of non-recyclable paper are compostable, but most types can cause problems in composting facilities.
“Brown napkins and brown paper bags that people use to carry food scraps, as well as uncoated greasy pizza boxes and pressed pulp egg cartons are all easily compostable,” said Robert Ford, business development manager for Synagro, a for the production of compost from Kern. . Ford) said. Most of the county’s food waste is collected in Ventura County for recycling.
People who want to divert as much recyclables as possible from landfills often ask about unmanageable items. For example, Ms. Lilith of Ventura asked if takeout containers made from pressed paper could be recycled.
Ford said the containers are problematic because they may contain PFAS chemicals. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS) are often called “forever chemicals” because they do not biodegrade in the environment.
Composting facilities are avoiding the use of pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and other coated paper products known to contain PFAS due to possible health effects.
Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to some types of cancer, decreased immunity, thyroid disease and other health effects, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Other non-recyclable papers also often contain materials that composter manufacturers don’t want included in high-quality soil amendments. Chlorine-bleached paper products, such as white tissues, contain dioxins, which also take a long time to degrade in the environment and can cause cancer.
Other paper products, such as ice cream boxes, are malleable. The thin plastic coating makes the packaging useful for storing and dispensing product, but if it is contained in organic matter, it can reduce the quality of the compost and interfere with composting operations.
“Wax paper is actually coated with plastic, so it doesn’t decompose like food or other organic matter. We leave it out of the way so it doesn’t interfere with our compost or make it look trashy.” Kern County is another destination for Ventura County organics, said Charbel Eid, general manager of Kern County composting facility Recology.
Recycling paper into paper products is better than composting because recycling recovers more resources and produces a more valuable product. However, many paper products are not recyclable.
Daniel Marks, director of marketing at Berg Mills, explains why any paper contaminated with food should be removed from the recycling process. The company represents the majority of the recycled materials in Ventura County.
Marks said paper mill inspectors are held to a “no food waste” standard. If your egg carton has eggs on it or a piece of cheese stuck to the bottom of your pizza box, the value of your recyclables could be diminished if an inspector accidentally sees these items end up on the side of a large bag. Entire bags or lots may be rejected for recycling.
For environmentalists looking to reduce waste, dealing with non-recyclable and compostable paper products can be heartbreaking, but the good news is that these organic materials are less likely to emit methane.
William Rathje, a Stanford University researcher and professor at the University of Arizona, dug into landfills several years ago to study consumption patterns in the United States. He found that the paper sometimes remained relatively undamaged. In fact, he was able to date the layers of the landfill by looking at still-readable dates on buried newspapers.
David Goldstein is an Environmental Resources Analyst for the Ventura County Department of Public Works. He can be reached at (805) 658-4312 or david.goldstein@ventura.org.
Post time: May-31-2024