Can I Compost This?

We accept all parts of all foods, including: fruits & veggies, dairy, meat, pits & peels, processed food, and bones. Essentially, if it’s a plant-based or animal-based material, it can go in, except for pet waste and human waste.

Our most common residential contaminants that we ask you to specifically watch out for are:

• compostable plastic items & bags, which are theoretically compostable but only under the right conditions
• the stickers, rubber bands and twist ties that are often attached to fresh produce
• paper items lined with plastic (such as coffee cups, meal kit containers, and to-go boxes)
• nylon tea bags or tea bags containing staples
• plastics labelled “biodegradable”, which cannot be recycled or composted and can only be landfilled

Paper products: Recycle, compost or trash?

Clean and recyclable paper products are better off in your recycling. Food-soiled paper products, or those lined with wax, should go in your compost bucket. Try to avoid using paper products lined with plastics, as they can only be placed in the trash (this includes certified compostable linings, as we no longer accept them).

Compostable and Biodegradable Plastics

Currently, we can’t accept certified compostable plastics. These items are technically compostable, but really only break down under the right conditions (that is, at an industrial-scale facility). Right now we don’t have access to such a facility, but we’re hoping that will change soon (and we’ll let you know the moment it does!) We will NEVER accept “biodegradable” plastics, as these are typically petroplastics with plant-based additives. Neither compostable nor biodegradable plastics can be recycled, so your only option in Albuquerque is to landfill them.