Can you compost items with glue on them?

lauren1515

16 years ago

Does anyone know if items that have glue on them can be composted?

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Comments (4)

pablo_nh
16 years ago
What kind of glue?

Elmers would be fine. Lots of CN/superglue- well- I wouldn't.
led_zep_rules
16 years ago
Corrugated cardboard has glue in the layers as far as I know, and evidently worms LIKE it. It rots fine. I do large scale composting of old produce, I try to get all the plastic labels off the stuff, but if the labels are paper and I have dozens of boxes, in they go. Doesn't seem to be any problem as far as I can tell. (The labels of course all have glue on them.) I figure it is on a food product, so hopefully it isn't too toxic. Do you have a particular item in mind that is gluey?

Marcia
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p_ferrell
16 years ago
Depends -
A lot of cardboard (including corrugated) is held together with starch glue (cornstarch, etc). A lot of furniture and woodworking glues are made from animal proteins (e.g. hide glue).
Shouldn't be any problem with these adhesives in the compost.

I doubt the common thermoplastic glues (think hot-glue guns) or white PVA glues (Elmer's) decompose easily, but they are generally non-toxic, and some are water-soluble.
Lots of other adhesives out there too...

In short, I don't know and probably should have kept my mouth shut.

Regards,
Patrick Ferrell
Allen, Texas
bpgreen
16 years ago
"In short, I don't know and probably should have kept my mouth shut."

If everybody only posted when they knew the answer, these forums wouldn't be nearly as much fun. At least you know you don't know.

As for keeping your mouth shut, I find that I can make some pretty stupid posts even if I breathe through my nose while typing, so it probably doesn't help.

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Can you compost items with glue on them?

Comments (4)

pablo_nh

led_zep_rules

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p_ferrell

bpgreen

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