It depends. (1) How far does that scrap paper have to be trucked before it gets recycled into another product? (2) Does it actually get recycled? Sometimes there is such a glut of scrap paper & cardboard that there is NO market for it. I personally compost as much paper & cardboard as my heap can handle & put the rest in my recycling bin, hoping it gets recycled and not dumped.

most paper recycling is really paper downcycling. a recycled white sheet of office paper rarely becomes a new white sheet of office paper. Moreover, when this piece of paper is in the process of being recycled, about the same amount of energy goes into doing this as when making the product out of new resources. (it still needs to be shredded, water is still being added to the pulp, it's still being bleached and fuel is still being used to get it to the recycling plant etc..) The only thing thats positive about recycled paper is that new trees aren't being cut down.

Paper production in europe is just about 100% from farmed (a tree for a tree) wood, so this part can be figured out of the equation too. I'm not so sure about paper manufactured or imported into the US. However this point is still moot as you're probably not using tonnes of paper in your compost heap.

In my opinion, composting your office waste paper is just about the most environmentally friendly way of recycling that paper. no extra fuel is used doing it, no chemicals are used doing it, your garden is getting the bio material it needs thus enabling you to get produce that doesn't need to be transported 1000's of miles, and most important: you are getting something for nothing :)

On the other side, I do not use much if any paper in composting. Sure the odd piece gets in, but for the most part, I don't use it. Might use cardboard as a shelter from wind or to protect from rain but that is about all. My reason for this is the almost zero nutrients in paper. I have lots of leaves that have much more nutrients. If I had no carbons I might consider paper but I am not sure if it adds much to the compost other than the C.

Click on the "download PDF" in the link.

Lloyd

Here is a link that might be useful: Rutgers Plant Nutrients in Municipal Leaves

If you have a true paper recycling program in operation, one where the paper actually is made into new paper and the "recycled" paper is not simply added to the local landfill, then recycling is better than putting that paper into your garden, but if the "recycling" program simply dumps that paper then it is better to put your waste paper into your garden. Most all paper manufactured today (newsprint is an exception) can be called "recycled because it all contains 10 percent recycled fiber. There are papers out there made from 100 percent recycled fiber, but few people will pay the premium for that paper.

Hmmm... well pending an investigation of the University's recycling procedures, I think I'll enjoy the added carbon to my pile.

It's a crock that 100% recycled paper is more expensive! Where else is "refurbished" more expensive than "new???"

Only a bit of paper napkins and tissue paper goes into our compost. The reason is as Lloyd pointed out, no value to it. It's just a filler and it's better to send the papaper and carboard to recycling.

For the same reason, I am perplexed at those who put cardboard, newspapers and a random selection of organic material on the soil surface and then plant into it because they are unwilling or unable to cultivate the soil. No matter how bad your soil is, it has to be better than that foolishness.

Now all you "Lasagna Gardeners" will rise up in protest. Save it. I have read the book and many postings here and I am not convinced that it has any value.

OK cowgirl2, then I'll just "save it" and not tell you that for the last 30 years of my 45 years of organic gardening experience I have not turned a single spade of soil and I won't tell you that I have a text book class A1 soil structure and I certainly won't mention how fantastic everything grows or about the excellent yields I get or how wonderful it all tastes. and I absolutely will not try to convince you of the research done 40 years ago buy our local ag department and of similar research done by University of California more recently that confirms that organic amendments added below the A horizon (more than 4 inches below the soil surface) do no good at all. ::smiles his jolly smile::
Oh, and +1 for recycling rather than composting. It keeps the material higher on the chain and I'm not convinced that all the inks and toners on paper is good for gardens. Some is soy ink and such, but not all.

Cowgirl2, do you annually till your perennial beds? If not why not? Do the plants in those perennial beds grow quite well in spite of not tilling them?

I'd sooner see paper waste taken away for recycling. Even soy ink has a lot of chemical additives and pulp-making involves chemical treatments that leave residues so I consider paper and cardboard post-industrial waste and keep it out of the compost. For carbon we use leaves, old straw or hay from chicken bedding, eelgrass from the beach - I realize this is a luxury most urban people do not have. But I think of our lawn and gardens as virgin territory, industrial-chemical-wise, and hate to cross the line. One compromise we make is putting scraps from conventionally grown produce and packaged foods in there.

Paper in a dry climate and soil they holds little water. Holds on to some rain water and cuts down on the amount of additional watering. We get most of are water in the winter. We have to water most weeks to get a tomato patch through the summer.

I am not protesting your protest just telling what works for me.

cowgirl2 writes "For the same reason, I am perplexed at those who put cardboard, newspapers and a random selection of organic material on the soil surface and then plant into it because they are unwilling or unable to cultivate the soil. No matter how bad your soil is, it has to be better than that foolishness"

Hmmm, many of us do it, it works great, saves hours of weeding and tilling and makes the best darn soil in the world, but you, who haven't actually tried it, write it off as foolishness. You're the foolish one here, unless you naturally have great soil without any vigorous perennial weeds.

My soil is a heavy clay with endless amounts of quackgrass and other perennial weeds growing all over the yard. Removing that from the soil takes hours per square yard. Smothering it and making new soil on top of it has excellent results, and improves the soil in a massive way, and is easy to do. The produce I get from the raised lasagna beds is SO much better than from the plain soil. I do smother the plain soil parts as well, weeding here doesn't even work really if you aren't willing to use poison on your soil. I am an organic gardener, so it's smother with cardboard or grow crops of quackgrass for me.

We are not saying there is great nutrition in the layer of cardboard or newspapper, that is for smothering purposes. The horse manure, old produce, leaves, wood ashes, etc. are what provide the nutrition. We also only compost tissues in the paper department, we are just down the road from a recycling center.

Marcia

I am a composting newbie, but I don't see this as an either/or deal. You need browns and you need greens. For me, in the fall/winter, browns are abundant, and in spring/summer, greens are abundant.

I'll use leaves before paper for browns, but if I don't have any "preferred" browns, then I'll used shredded paper. There's no way I can compost all the paper I use -- the rest goes into recycling.

I also prefer using kitchen scraps over grass, but in the spring/summer, I get a lot more grass clippings than anything else. I'll amend it with UCG for bulk alternate nutrients, but I don't produce that much kitchen scraps. (In the winter, it's pretty much only kitchen scraps.)

So the answer is -- whatever it takes to get the right mix. I'm not convinced that recycling paper is good for the environment (it creates toxic waste in the form of the bleaching chemicals, and after all, paper is a renewable resource), but paper does fill up landfills and I don't see other alternatives to recycling. So I don't mind diverting some paper from recycling when it makes sense.

I don't make a point of adding paper to the compost as I don't need to, got plenty of leaves for browns. I do use cardboard and newspaper as mulch as they're very useful for that, one of the best materials in my opinion, plentiful, cheap if not free, biodegradable.

Recycling paper is better than chopping down trees for virgin pulp. Here in the US, most paper pulp comes from timber that is not harvested for sustainability. Actually I think a lot of our paper pulp comes from western Canada, where timber operators still act as if the western forests are inexhaustible and you can just keep moving on to uncut forests rather than going to the expense and bother of harvesting sustainably.

Turning trees into paper takes a lot of chemicals and a lot of water and a lot of electricity. Turning paper into paper takes less of everything. But, your nice bright white new paper can't be made from more than a very small percentage of recycled paper, and usually it has only factory waste for recycled content, not post-consumer pulp. Recycled paper with any significant percentage of post-consumer fiber in it isn't going to be the higher quality stuff, but has a different feel to it, and a dingier color and lower brightness. Still perfectly good, but for important letters and resumes I use the clean stuff!

So, I prefer to recycle my paper, except when I have a project coming up that needs sheets of cardboard or newspaper for mulching or insulating.

But if your compost pile needs the paper, go ahead and use it. If you don't really need the paper, leave it in the recycling bins, unless you know it's being dumped.

Today is trash pick-up day. My plastic, glass & cans went in one bin, my paper & cardboard went in another, the remaining trash went in a barrel. The trash truck came & picked up my trash & also my paper and cardboard. The recycling truck hasn't been through the neighborhood yet, but apparently they intend to only pick up the plastic, glass & cans. Sooooo, as I said in my previous posting, I compost as much of my paper & cardboard as I can. I know leaves are better, & I get leaves by the truckload, but I don't like seeing all that paper & cardboard getting mixed with the trash. Very frustrating situation.

We have curbside pickup of trash and recyclables in our town. There are separate trucks for each and the trucks come by hours apart from each other. The mixed paper definitely goes into the recycling truck - I work from home and observed the truck out the office window many times. We also get a $8-10 paper recycling credit on our bills so I am assuming that the waste removal company is actually making money from the recycled paper.

So all junk mail, office paper, small cardboard, food boxes, etc. go into paper recycling. But I compost messy paper like napkins, paper towels, and paper plates, because these would otherwise go into the trash. I use pizza boxes and large pieces of cardboard for lasagne beds and smothering weeds.

So far, I have found that lasagne gardening using cardboard works well. There is a lot of Vinca minor and other weeds growing where I am making new garden beds. I start by laying down one or two large sheets of cardboard, then layer coffee grounds, leaves, grass clippings, etc. I usually wait a half year or so before planting. By that time the Vinca minor is gone and the soil is richer!

Also heard somewhere that shredded paper can't be recycled? So that could be a great option for composting too. Years ago I collected some bags of shredded paper and they composted fine. Also watched a couple birds pick up pieces of shredded paper and fly off, and assumed they were going to use them in their nests.

We don't have recycling here. I save cans and plastic for my son, as they recycle at university. I shred as much paper as I can, which I use in compost pile but mostly to mulch around shrubs or trees and cover with organic mulch (pine straw or shredded leaves or bark). I use cardboard and newspaper for smothering when I am making a new garden bed. In fact, I have an area along a back barbed wire fence that I have been laying cardboard and pouring shredded paper over the grass. This will be ready to be planted in future. I also lay large sheets of cardboard when I have boxes, and some old pieces of cotton clothing that can't be donated or consigned (like jeans that are on their "last leg.")Currently I am covering the grass in a side area that has my A/C unit, various pots, and stakes, and compost pile behind a fenced area. It is difficult to mow there, and for about a year now, I just walk over the cardboard and attend to the compost pile. It seems to be working. I am careful though of snakes and spiders which might hide underneath, I try to lay it very flat. Mind you, I am not going to kill the snakes nor spiders, just trying to avoid a bite.

Many, many times in many, many places the trash haulers recycling trucks have been followed by news reporters and have been seen, and filmed, dumping the load of recyclables in the same place as the rest of your trash, then local landfill because there was not market, someplace to sell, that recyclable material. Most often the cost of shipping that recyclable material is too great and what the material wil sell for is too small.
So, while you may be seperating out your recyclable material, it may well not be actually recycled. Until we make recycling something that is really done this wil not change.

The value of recyclables must be a very cyclical thing. I remember saving newsprint, cardboard, glass and aluminum and taking them to a recycling facility (where they actually processed what was brought in). At one point, they stopped accepting paper of any kind due to a glut. A few years later, I read that newsprint had become so valuable that recycling containers were being locked to reduce theft (but that didn't always work because the locks were sometimes cut off).