I avoid putting oils, fats and waxes into my compost as it's not easily digested by the microbes. If you have a large enough, hot enough aerobically decomposing pile I'm sure it's possible... :shrug:

I have always heard that Waxtex paper is biodegradeable, and that is why I have always used the wrap and the sandwich bags, rather than Saran wrap or clingfilm. Firther, I have put waxed paper in my compost bin for over a year now, and it breaks down faster than paper towels and napkins. The inventor of waxed paper sais it was biodegradeable.

Here is a link that might be useful: Waxed paper info

If you want a more detailed list of things that you wouldn't normally think of from around your kitchen & home to add to your compost pile (more "go green"), I've made a list of over 200 items on the link below.

I had a lot of fun compiling this list and keeping my kitchen & home & landfills empty of this junk, while feeding the ground :)

And I don't consider myself a "go green-er" just semi-thoughtful about what I do & what I use & how I take care of it. All the Best, Tree

Here is a link that might be useful: 201 Compost ingredients

Thank you all for your responses! I was a bit afraid of the "wax' on the paper, as I don't compost meat, dairy or oil.

I'll try some and see let you know how it works out.

PJ

I add "road kill animals" from in front of my house and anything else that once grew or breathed in air. It's all organic.
Why not meat, dairy or oil? I don't mean that in a nasty way, but if the pile is large enough, it will be absorbed.

wax, if its natural, comes from bees or plants, so I wouldn't hesitate to compost it.

There are other man made waxes that are completely synthetic that I probably would not compost.

Most wax papers for kitchen use are made of paraffin wax, the edible kind made from vegetable oil. Paraffin wax is often used in chocolate candy - If its something that I can eat, then its something that I can compost.

Wax paper will compost. Meat and the like are only ok to compost if you manage a big hot pile. The reason so many lists say not to compost stuff like meat, dairy, oil, pet or people poo is that if the pile is not managed well, it could get nasty and become a problem. Once people learn the basics though, they can usually compost just about anything that grew as long as it fits in the pile.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com

Wax paper is biodegradable, eventually. Wax paper is meant to repel water, and water, or at least moisture, is needed to digest any material so until the wax paper gets moist enough (that takes a while) it will not get digested but eventually that coating will break down and the cellulose will get digested. With this product "hot" has nothing to do with when, it just takes time.

Hi, sorry if I am interfering with somebody else's thread, but I have the same question: can you compost this?
I am very new to composting, I just bought a bin two weeks ago, as I live in the city in a small rented townhouse with backyard. I am environment oriented and I also recycle even if nobody else does it, around here...
So my question is about food leftovers:
I see Chinese take-out and so, I am concerned about the SALT in the leftovers..... I am nearly vegetarian, so I always have scraps and things gone bad in the fridge... is it ok to add vegetarian leftovers, that have been cooked with salt and spices? I know that salt is bad for plants...
thank you for answering, if you know...
also thank you for the funny list, it's inspirational, actually!

okay, so i have read this list of 201 things you can compost and i am flabbergasted. i am new to this; can all that stuff really go in my bin? i have my bin about 1/4 full but nothing has been happening (it's been about a month) and i am looking for other stuff to fill it up. Also, how often should i turn it?

Yes add the leftovers, a bit of salt and spices are fine, if it is ok for you to eat, the microbes can handle it too.

As to how often you should turn it, that all depends on how much you need to work out and quickly you need the finished compost. Me personally, I don't turn compost. I keep adding to the bin till it is full and then I let it bee for a year or until I need an empty bin to start filling again. The stuff that looks nice and finished, I call compost. The stuff that looks more like leaves, I call mulch. I use the stuff accordingly. (seems simple to me.)

A month and only 1/4 full, have patients. Just keep adding to the bin and don't really expect much to happen till you get closer to 3/4 full. When you start thinking that the bin is full and nothing much has happened then you come out one day to discover the pile steaming and it has shrunk back to half full. You keep adding to it, thinking that the bin is too full and then it shrinks again. Amazing stuff.

Now if you are not squeamish and want to get the pile heating up faster, start using a chamber pot (or 5 gallon bucket) with sawdust or shredded paper for urine. You can pour that into the compost pile and cover over with more leaves, That will usually get a compost pile heating up quite nicely.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com

I've looked into the whole wax paper issue quite a bit. I pulled up the thesis done at McGill University by Fabien Marino in 1998 which is the most often quoted work regarding paraffin. It's good work, alright.

Paraffin is not derived from vegetable oil. It is refined from petroleum, as is the liquid mineral oil. It's not digested by higher organisms, but it's not toxic either. Yeah, it's used to gloss chocolates, and mineral oil can be taken as a laxative because it lubes things up all the way through.
Many waxed paper products have absolutely non-compostable synthetic additives to make the wax more water resistant, and hot beverage cups and paper plates have a bunch of it added.

You have to decide for yourself whether to compost paraffin papers or not, based on how you compost (hot and fast? vs cold and slow (better for wax degradation) and also depending on whether you're after premium soil amendment or happier to keep a bit out of the landfill and mostly use it as a mulch anyway.

My personal practice has changed, as I give the Waxtex Natural wax paper a complete thumbs up under any circumstances. I also decided that even though I compost hot and fast, I usually use it as a top dressing since I'm pretty much no-till, so my garden should be able to handle my butter papers and the kid's bathroom paper cups without a second thought. I'm wavering still on their McDonald's drink cups...but I'll probably take responsibility for that waste as well--collect them, and put them through the junk mail shredder for a certain mulched area under two evergreens that I wish would stop growing anyway.

Leyland cypress are monsters.

My local recycle company asks not to compost waxed paper or cardboard.

http://www.recologysf.com/index.php/for-homes/residential-recycling-compost-trash

Hey Mike, aside from the fact this is a thread over 7 years old, your link shows wax paper is ok to compost, but not ok for the recycle bin.

tj

Petalpatsy...... you are so compost concious , yet you have to think about your kids eating at McDonalds???????? Uuuuuuurp Nancy

That's not a logical approach, japus. People often ask about things they are unsure of and it turns out they are absolutely compostable.

Is bread compostable? Some will state yes while there are those that will not compost bread. But then that may depend on the bread. Bread made from flour that has had 29 nutrients removed during milling and the "enriched" with 10 may not be something one would want to compost.

The question may be what is in wax paper that makes it something to compost.

kimmq is kimmsr

kimmq - are you trying to lure annpat out of the undergrowth?

It's not just whether you want to compost it, but also whether you can safely divert it from the landfill by composting it. If that was not an issue, I doubt anyone would go out looking for wax paper to compost, but since it can't be recycled very well, composting is a good alternative if it works. I have not tried it - I don't use much wax paper - but it sounds like it works fine.