Kitchen Roll on kitchen worktop

Can I Compost Kitchen Roll?

Whilst kitchen roll is a paper-based product commonly made up of cellulose fibres which are relatively easy for the thermophilic bacteria in the HOTBIN to breakdown adding large volumes of this to the consents of your HOTBIN has the potential to restrict airflow within the unit.

Paper towels have a large surface area allowing a lot of moisture to be absorbed which in theory is great for absorbing the excess moisture inside the HOTBIN. However, it may result in a:

  • waterlogged ball which is hard for bacteria to digest and may restrict airflow within the HOTBIN.
  • layered sheets of kitchen towel within the unit which may restrict airflow within the HOTBIN.

Therefore, whilst adding the odd kitchen towel to the HOTBIN is not a problem unfortunately we would not recommend adding in kitchen roll / paper towels to the HOTBIN in large quantities or as a substitute for shredded paper. You can however add the kitchen roll core, just make sure you rip it up into smaller pieces first.

How can Paper Towels / Kitchen Paper be Disposed of?

If not composting kitchen roll, cardboard cores, and paper towels, what are the options for disposing of these items?

Most household council recycling schemes advise that used kitchen roll sheets should be placed in the general rubbish, but we would advise checking with your local refuse collection authority as this can differ depending on your location. The cardboard cores however can be placed in most cardboard recycling collection schemes.

Many paper towels are also manufactured from recycled paper and because they have already been through the recycling process the fibres used to make the paper become unusable.

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