David Goldstein
Since January saw the start of food recycling programs in Ventura County, local environmental advocates have concentrated on communicating the importance to recycle organics. But there is one group of organics that must be handled with caution before being composted.
Organics can be anything that has been alive once and is capable of rotting. It’s important to get organics out of landfills. Methane gas is created when organics rot in the absence oxygen. Methane, a climate-changing gas, is many times stronger than carbon.
I applied this logic to my own garbage and a few people emailed me asking about non-recyclable. Paper is made from trees and trees were alive so should paper be easy to compost? Is composting the best choice for unrecyclable papers, such as paper that has been contaminated with food or has a nonstick coating?
The short answer is that most of the time, no. Some non-recyclable materials can be composted. However, many types of nonrecyclable material could cause problems at compost facilities.
Brown paper napkins, brown papers bags, and uncoated, greased pizza boxes and pressed egg cartons are all easy to compost. Robert Ford is a business development manager at Synagro Technologies. The company composts in Kern County the majority of the food scraps that have been collected from Ventura County for recycling.
The questions are often about difficult-to manage items, which is typical of people trying to divert as much from landfills as possible. Ms. Lilith (her full-name), Ventura, posted her question via Nextdoor: . . There are some take-out containers, and I just bought a ham. . . A tray made from compressed paper. Is there anything else you can do with them than to throw them out?
Ford offered an explanation. Ford said that take out containers and paper meat trays could be a problem with PFAS. Ford refers to polyfluoroalkyl compounds, which are chemicals that are designed for nonstick surfaces. Peoplespharmacy.com says that PFAS can be found in a variety of products, including cookware and dental floss. However, there are potential health risks, so composters should avoid these items.
Nonstick surfaces can also prevent composting of items such as popcorn bags and pizza boxes. Non-recyclable papers often contain materials that composters would prefer to keep away of high-quality soil amendments. Ford says that excessive bleaching from white napkins can cause problems.
Plasticization can also be used to protect other paper products such as icecream tubs. The packaging is useful for storage and dispensing products. However, if it were to be included in organics loads, the plastic coating would affect the quality of compost and interfere.
Sharbel Eid (general manager of Recologys Compost Facility in Kern County), explained that waxed paper is actually coated with plastic so it doesn’t break down like other organics or food. We keep it out so that it doesn’t get in the way of our compost or look trashy.
Reusing paper is more efficient than composting because it uses less resources and produces a better product. However, many paper products cannot be recycled. Berg Mill Supply CEO Daniel Marks explained why any food-contaminated papers should be thrown out of the recycling stream.
Marks explained that paper mill inspectors must adhere to a zero food waste standard. If an egg carton has some egg on it, or if there is cheese on the bottom of your pizza boxes, inspectors will inspect them and may downgrade the recyclables’ value. Recycling could be rejected if an entire bale or load is involved.
It may be difficult for environmentalists trying to reduce their garbage to make it more sustainable, but this type of organic is less likely to produce significant methane.
William Rathje, a research fellow and consulting professor in archaeology at Stanford University and Professor at the University of Arizona, excavated abandoned sites several years ago as part of his anthropological studies of American consumption patterns. Sometimes, he found that paper could be preserved in its original state. He was actually able to date landfill strata using the still-readable dates on entombed papers.
Recycle what you can and compost when possible, but certain items should still be disposed of in a landfill.
David Goldstein is an Environmental Resource Analyst at the Ventura County Public Works Agency. He can be reached at 805-658 4312 or [email protected].