Comprehensive List of Accepted Compostable Items: 

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
  • This includes fruit pits!
• Meat and fish products
• Small bones (chicken and fish bones)
• Pasta, bread, and cereal
• Dairy products and egg shells
• Nuts and nut shells
• Coffee grounds, filters, and tea bags
  • For tea bags, be sure to remove the staple first!
• Paper towels and paper towel/toilet paper rolls
• Soiled paper food packaging
  • ONLY IF the food packaging is 100% paper and does not have a waxy 
    
• Pizza boxes
• Muffin wrappers
• Baking ingredients, herbs, and spices
• Small houseplant trimmings
• Flowers
• Pet food
• Cheesecloth
  • 100% cotton, unbleached cheesecloth is compostable.
• Fiber Plates
  • This includes 100% fiber plates that do not have a plastic coating.
    • Tip: Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether a plate has a plastic coating. Generally, a good trick is to try and rip the plate in half. If it tears easily and without coming apart into layers, it is compostable. If it's hard, or the top layer comes off, it is likely plastic coated and is not compostable.
• Tissues
  • Plain tissues are compostable (i.e. those that are not infused with lotions).
• Wax Paper
  • Plain wax paper is compostable, but it must not be confused with parchment paper or other baking sheets not specifically labeled as “wax paper.”
• Newspaper
• Tissue paper
  • This is compostable as long as it isn’t glossy, dyed, or contains glitter.
• Matches
• Cheese rinds (natural rinds only; any rinds made of wax like Babybel are NOT compostable)

Items that are NOT compostable in our program

• All types of plastic
• Compostable plastic products (even if they are BPI-Certified)
• Compostable plastic bags (even if they are BPI-Certified)
• Styrofoam meat trays
• Aluminum foil
• Clams, oysters, and mussels
  • Oyster shells can be brought to the Orange County Landfill. Stop at the Scale House for disposal instructions.
• Candles, synthetic corks, and gum
• Artificial flowers and plants
• Rugs and carpets
• Cigarette butts and tobacco
• Dental floss and Q-tips
• Baby wipes
• Diapers
• Human and animal waste
• Disposable mop sheets
• Dryer lint
• Dryer sheets
• Vacuum cleaner bags and vacuum contents
• Hair, pet fur, and pet waste
• Dead animals
• Fireplace and BBQ ashes
• Items labeled biodegradable or oxo-biodegradable
  • Those labels are essentially meaningless.
• Drug pill and vitamin pills
• Ice cream containers
• Milk containers
• Oatmeal packets
• Paper towels, cotton balls, cotton rounds used with non-compostable cleaning products
• Produce stickers
• Takeout containers
• Receipts
• Popcorn bags
• Butcher paper
• Butter wrappers
• Fingernail clippings