Compost the Cardboard

Pierre-Marcel De Mussac 21.September.2022 0 comments

Can the cardboard be composted?

Cardboard is biodegradable, so it makes a great “brown” material for composting. Once you start soaking the cardboard, it will release the carbon and be a great benefit to the compost you use with other organic waste. It is necessary to add the cardboard with the main high-carbon materials (such as dead leaves and plants, sawdust, spruce thorns and straw) will allow it to release excess moisture that the decomposition process needs to break down decomposed materials. Adding it to compost with food is one way to enhance the benefits of cardboard, allowing it to decompose.

Corrugated cardboard breaks down the fastest. It is often used for packaging and is already ribbed in its construction. In most cases, you will find this type of cardboard in packaging as filler material to prevent items from breaking and as a layer in the box itself.

Regular boxboard is easy to compost and also breaks down fairly quickly. As long as there are no other materials mixed in with this cardboard, it will need to be broken down into strips, but if not, it can be added directly to the compost pile and will begin to decompose.

If there is one that should not be composted, it is waxed cardboard. There's a lot of work to do to make it an option for compost, and ultimately it may still have too many chemical and processed ingredients that prevent it from being added to compost. Large pieces of cardboard and intact boxes should also not be composted as they do not decompose quickly enough. They absorb too much moisture from the rest of the compost, impacting the alternating layers that are trying to grow and causing problems. Cardboard with color should not be used due to the dyes and paints used in the material. It's like wax on cardboard, but there's no way to remove it. Once the paint and stain are on the box, they are completely part of the box and carton. Like waxed cardboard, you can take it to your local recycling center and see if they accept it.

If you want to add an extra source of carbon to balance your nitrogen-rich materials in your compost, good clean cardboard is perfect. It's also an organic way to start building layers in your compost. They allow air pockets to move into the other green materials so there is a balance when you add your compost to your plants. The cardboard will assist other natural materials in the decomposition process so that the right amounts of moisture are absorbed and then released as needed later.