The Compostability Of Paper BY MARY DRAIN
our preferred option is recycling, but composting is “…sug- gested as an alternative disposal option that can reduce reliance on landfills and provide additional benefit through the production of a valuable soil amendment.” The report introduction states that, while there are general recommendations for composting paper, relative- ly little attention has been given in the scientific literature to the biodegradability and compostability of paper and what impacts it may have on the final compost product. This review is a summary of some of the research that has been done to investigate the suitability of using paper and paper products in a composting environment. Sections include information on biodegradation of woody material in a soil environment, biodegradation in a compost environment and biodegradation of paper in compost environment and the connections among them. Highlights from the report include: • As a wood-based product, the biodegradation of paper
The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI) recently released to the public a report titled “The
Use of Paper and Paper Products in a Composting Environment.” NCASI serves the forest products industry by providing scientific research and technical information necessary to achieve the industry’s environmental and sustainability goals.
The information on compostability of paper detailed in the report is beneficial to the corrugated packaging indus- try and other paper-based packaging allies, to the com- posting industry and to all eco-minded consumers. This topic isn’t addressed very often in the industry, because Mary Drain
follows a similar path to that of wood in a natural soil environment, with microbial communities metabolizing wood fibers. • When properly maintained, composting using paper feedstock can result in a fi- nal product that is high in quality, suffi- ciently stable, free of odors, and can be marketed for agricultural uses. • Composted paper has also been shown to have no impact on plant germination rates. In fact, results from one study showed final yields for plants grown in paper compost were higher than for plants grown in compost without paper or commercial growth substrates. • In lab experiments, the biodegradability of bleached, high density paper with sil- icone coating was 75 percent, but was eventually able to achieve 100 percent biodegradability with sufficiently long composting times. Paraffin wax coatings have been shown to be biodegradable. • Recommendations for including paper and paper products during compost- ing are commonly contained in general guidance documents concerning this subject. These recommendations make sense given that paper is a natural prod- uct derived from wood, which should make it ideal for composting. • Unbleached paper may not be 100 per- cent biodegradable during composting due to the higher lignin content, but the modified lignin resulting from compost- ing produces a stable humic-like sub- stance valued in the final compost. FBA commends NCASI for seeing the importance and value of this document and sharing it with the public.
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August 3, 2020
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