can you compost packing paper?
brown · carbon paper & cardboard
Yes — plain packing paper is unprinted newsprint or kraft, one of the easiest browns a household ever gets in bulk.
breaks down in 1–3 months crumpled into the pile
C:N ≈ 175:1
which bins can take it?
- hot pile yes
- cold pile yes
- worm bin yes
- bokashi no
- tumbler yes
- curbside yes
why?
Void-fill paper arrives pre-crumpled, which is exactly the structure a pile wants: crumpled sheets trap air pockets that flat paper layers smother. It's typically unbleached, unprinted, and uncoated — blank newsprint or light kraft — so there's nothing to sort or strip. A single large shipment can supply a compost bin's carbon needs for weeks.
how to prep it
- Keep sheets crumpled — don't flatten them
- Tear very large sheets in half so they mix evenly
- Pull off any tape or shipping labels that rode along
often confused with
- Plastic air pillows — Inflated film pillows sometimes ship alongside paper fill — those are stretchy plastic for store-dropoff recycling, not the pile.
quick answers
Is packing paper better in the pile or the recycling cart?
Both work, so let condition decide: crisp flat sheets recycle well, while crumpled, torn fill is low-grade stock for mills and does more good as compost carbon. Worms also take it happily as bedding.