What Can I Compost with Rust Belt Riders?

Acceptable

• FOOD WASTE

  • Dairy, including cheese rinds, spoiled milk

  • Meat, bones (of any size), bacon fat

  • Fruits, veggies (with the stickers removed)

  • Fish, seafood shells

  • Nuts, seeds, pits, and shells

  • Eggs and eggshells

  • Egg cartons (uncoated cardboard, labels removed, ripped into smaller pieces)

  • Pizza, pizza boxes (cardboard, ripped into smaller pieces)

  • Processed snack foods

  • Coffee grounds, filters, pods (BPI-certified only)

  • Tea, tea bags (staples and tags removed)

  • Sweets, including candy, chocolate, cookies, cake

  • Grains, including cereal, flour, pasta, rice

  • Cooked, baked, prepared foods

  • Moldy, spoiled, and expired foods

  • Pumpkins (OK during most of the year, but please bring them to our RBR collection event held after Halloween! Otherwise bins fill too fast that week)

  • Pet food

  HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

  • Flowers, bouquets, houseplants (wires and ribbons removed)

  • Toothpicks, popsicle sticks, chopsticks, small wood fruit containers (uncoated, untreated)

  • Cotton balls (natural, no bodily fluids or chemicals)

  • Raw wool, feathers (natural, undyed)

  • Corks (natural)

  • Berry containers (blue cardboard/fiberboard)

  FOOD-SOILED PAPER & COMPOSTABLES

  • Pizza boxes (cardboard, ripped into smaller pieces)

  • Paper towels, napkins, tissues (white or natural, food-soiled only, no bodily fluids or chemicals)

  • Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls (ripped up)

  • Newspaper (one or two sheets as a can liner–recycle the rest!)

  • Paper bags (brown, uncoated)

  • Paper plates (non-glossy only!)

  • Compostable plastic bags, liners (BPI-certified only)

  • Compostable service ware, takeout containers, cups, plates (BPI-certified only)

Unacceptable

• FOOD WASTE

  • Produce stickers

  • Cooking oil (in large quantities)

  • Wrappers, packaging

  HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

  • Yard waste, grass clippings

  • Plastic bags

  • Pet feces, animal bedding

  • Human waste, diapers

  • Pills, medications, vitamins, supplements

  • Nails, hair (pet or human)

  • Q-Tips

  • Rubber bands, twist ties

  • Styrofoam

  • Plastic cups, Straws

  • Metal

  • Plastic

  CONTAMINATED PAPER

  • Paper towels (contaminated with cleaning chemicals or soap)

  • Parchment paper, wax paper

  • Printer paper, junk mail

  • Shredded paper

  • Shiny/colorful cardboard boxes

  PLEASE NOTE

  Single-use “compostable” products

  must be BPI-certified to go in our bins!

  BPI is a third-party non-profit that vets single-use “compostable” items to make sure they break down fully and safely in compost piles and do not have any harmful chemicals.

  Find products!

• Search online to see if your brand is BPI certified, or look for your brand on the BPI website: bpiworld.org

  • You can also search their website for products!

  • For example, you can search “forks,” and it will generate a list of acceptable, BPI certified compostable fork brands!

  If you do not see your item on this list or have any other questions, contact us directly at info@rustbeltriders.com.