Ink and glue in paper and cardboard bound for compost heap. Harmful??

[joe the gardner]

Was reading around some info on composting, which said make sure you get some brown stuff in there as well, including card and paper.

I've been using cereal boxes, newspapers and toilet/kitchen roll tubes.

I got thinking the other day, these items have glue holding them together and inks.

Probably trivial amounts, but does anyone know of the glues and inks used could be detrimental or harmful to veggies in particular and the environment in general??

Are there any card or paper items that should be avoided?

[alldigging]

I reckon they are 100% edible these days. I certainly wouldn't worry about what your compost eats.

[Thelma Sanders]

Everything, except glossy coated stuff, goes in mine. The glossy coating doesn't seem to rot as well

[Chris11]

Like Joe, I'm wary of glues etc. There's plenty of other material that can go in the compost without taking any chances. Newspapers are safer than they used to be because vegetable based inks are now the norm.

How much brown stuff you need depends on what else is going in. If you've got lots of grass clippings, then it gets too wet without some balancing browns. The cardboard egg boxes are my favourites for compost, because they're low grade cardboard, easily compostable and absorbent.

RHS advice is: 'Limited amounts of newspaper, shredded office paper and cardboard, but not glossy magazines'

[4390evans]

Inks can turn compost acidic, think its somthingto do with toner. I watched something on youtube about it

[janzbro]

slugs seem to like it, leave out a cornflakes packet for the night and it will have little eaten trails across it!

[alldigging]

Inks can turn compost acidic, think its somthingto do with toner. I watched something on youtube about it

Unless you are pouring them on in vast quantities I suspect they don't.

Anything that comes in to contact with humans has to be completely edible. Because apparently people are stupid enough to eat the wrappers.

[ESBkevin]

In standard brown corrugated boxes the glue used is often/usually organic because it's cheap and a by product of the preparation process.

Modern Inks and particularly shiny ones have a plasticiser in them, these take a long time to degrade and I would not recommend large quantities.

I use a lot of corrugated boxes and avoid those that have Sales type glossy printing/pictures and aim for brown boxes. I remove all tape, staples and dodgy labels.

I tear into smaller strips or side plate size pieces that are tossed into the compost bin. Wet/damp cardboard is very easy to tear! Worms love the stuff (especially the glue) and I bury strips in the plot as I dig it over in autumn.

Cereal boxes and other 'grey' cardboard are made of recycled paper/card which may well have lots of inks from earlier incarnations incorporated into it. Nabisco (shreddies/Golden nuggets/Bran flakes etc.) boxes are claimed to be virgin card and therefore unlikely to contain any pollutants, this info is a year or two old now and other cereal manufacturers may have followed suit as there was a stir in the press a while back iirc.