Parchment paper is helpful for meals storage, steaming fish and veggies, and stopping cookies and muffins from sticking to baking sheets and pans. The difficulty is, used parchment paper can pile up quick and it’s not at all times compostable. Should you’re in search of methods to make your kitchen extra sustainable, right here’s what you’ll want to find out about composting parchment paper after you’ve got used it for baking.

Which Parchment Paper Is Compostable?

Though parchment paper is product of biodegradable paper, not all parchment paper might be composted. To find out in the event you can compost your parchment paper or not, check out the parchment paper packaging.

Parchment paper that’s been “coated” or “handled with silicone” is usually extra immune to moisture, grease, and warmth, nevertheless it’s not compostable or recyclable. Nevertheless, in case your parchment paper is “pure” or “uncoated,” you’ll be able to compost it, or you’ll be able to recycle it if it’s not coated in meals or oils.

Parchment Paper vs. Wax Paper: What’s the Distinction?

Parchment paper and wax paper are sometimes confused with one another, however they’re truly two completely different merchandise.

Parchment paper is often handled with a sulfuric acid bathtub and/or silicone, which makes the paper non-stick and immune to excessive warmth, moisture, and grease. This paper product is meant for use for cooking or baking and it could possibly deal with temperatures as much as 420 or 450°F (relying on the model).

Wax paper is often coated with paraffin wax, though extra sustainable and compostable choices could also be handled with beeswax or soy wax. This non-stick paper is finest for meals prep and meals storage, nevertheless it shouldn’t be used within the oven as it is going to soften and doubtlessly catch on hearth in excessive warmth.

Suggestions for Composting Parchment Paper

Many paper merchandise, together with pure, uncoated parchment paper, might be composted in outside or indoor composting methods, together with bokashi composters and worm bins. However if you need parchment paper to interrupt down as shortly as attainable, listed below are a number of tricks to pace the composting course of alongside.

1. Tear Into Small Items

Tearing parchment paper into small items earlier than including it to your compost pile will assist it break down quicker.

2. Use the Proper Combine

Parchment paper is taken into account to be a “brown” or carbon-rich ingredient and it ought to be layered with loads of “inexperienced” or nitrogen-rich supplies, like kitchen scraps. For quicker composting, use about 3 components carbon-rich supplies for each 1 a part of nitrogen-rich elements.

3. Aerate Your Compost

Pure parchment paper and different natural matter will finally break down in chilly compost piles. However in the event you flip or aerate your pile a number of instances every week, you’ll be able to create a scorching compost pile and make completed compost loads quicker.

4. Add Moisture

Compost piles ought to be about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. In case your compost is taking a very long time to interrupt down and it feels dry to the contact, add extra water.

5. Keep away from Extra Oil

Parchment paper that’s coated in oil takes longer to decompose and it could entice undesirable pests. To keep away from pest points, bury parchment paper deep in your compost pile or use a coated compost bin with a lid.