Paper ice cream containers and fast food cups - compost or recycle or ??

Question

I'd like to send as little off to landfill / the incinerator as possible and I was wondering what to do with rinsed paper products.

Also, any links with tips about waste reduction would be appreciated!

Thanks

Answer 1

if it is really paper, or paper coated with wax, composting could work. shred well. paper is also high carbon, so you should add stuff that is green(color) as well for the nitrogen, like grass clippings.

Answer 2

paper recyclers are very picky about what they will accept, so any treated paper is usually rejected.

so it is either compost or send to the landfill, where it will either be composted or incinerated.

Answer 3

I've done some research on these.

Most are polythene lined by bonding a layer of polyhene film onto the paperboard.

The ones we should aim to use are made in exactly the same way, but the plastic used is PLA - Poly Lactic Acid. It is derived from corn and fully biodegradable.

If you are sure they are compostible, then they will say that.

Otherwise, due to the ammount of polythene involved compared to paper, the best method is to shred and add to paper pulp used in making combustible blocks.

Kimberly Clarke burn most of their nappy manufacturing waste - which has way more polythene, and they have been allowed to do this, so I do not believe it to be worse than housecoal or wood - especially as the quantity % is so small.