Plain tissue paper is compostable in both a backyard and municipal compost system, but tissue paper that contain dyes, glitter, or coatings should be avoided.
Below I’ll show you exactly what types of tissue paper you can compost safely, which ones to avoid, and the results of an experiment I ran where I tested tissue paper under real backyard conditions (with photos).
Can You Compost Tissue Paper?
Yes, tissue is fully compostable. This is because it’s made of thin paper fibers that break down quickly in both backyard and municipal compost systems. However, just because tissue paper can be composted it doesn’t mean it should be.
Compostable Tissue Paper
- Plain white tissue paper
- Unbleached or brown tissue paper
- Recycled-content tissue paper
- Unsoiled or lightly soiled tissue paper
- Other types accepted by your local compost municipality
Do Not Compost These
- Tissue paper dyed with toxic or unknown dye
- Tissue paper with glitter, foil, or coatings
- Heavily soiled tissue paper
Types of Tissue Paper and Whether They're Compostable
Plain White Tissue Paper
Plain white tissue paper, the kind often used in gift bags, is fully compostable and breaks down quickly due to its short fibers.
Tip: Shred it and mix it it into your compost pile so it breaks down even faster.
Recycled Content Tissue Paper
Tissue paper made from recycled content is fully compostable. It may even break down faster than tissue paper made from new material because the recycling process lowers the quality of paper.
Brown or Unbleached Tissue Paper
Unbleached tissue paper, also known as Kraft paper, has a brown colored appearance and is fully compostable. This type of paper is best because it does not contain any dyes. This means you can safely use the compost for all purposes. Depending on your intended use for your compost pile, you may not want to use it for purposes that can be sensitive to dyes.
Colored or Dyed Tissue Paper
Colored tissue paper that has been dyed is compostable. However, you should make sure the dye is non-toxic so it doesn’t contaminate the rest of the pile or whatever you are applying the compost to.
Tissue Paper with Glitter, Foil, and Coatings
Tissue paper with glitter, foil, coatings, or any other materials should not be composted. While the paper itself will breakdown, the glitter, foil, and coatings won’t.
When Not To Compost
You should not compost tissue paper when it contains any materials that can contaminate your pile. This may mean different things for different uses.
Foils , Glitter, an Coatings
Tissue paper that contains any foil, plastic, or non-paper materials should never be composted. The paper will breakdown, but it will leave the other materials in the compost pile.
Tissue Paper Soiled With Contaminantes
Tissue paper that contains contaminates should not be composted. If you plan to use your compost for a vegetable garden, you may want to follow this more strictly than if applying to grass. Similarly, if you don’t want to add contaminates to the environment, including on your grass, you should avoid using contaminated tissue paper.
My Backyard Compost Experiment (With Photos)
Setting Up The Experiment
To test how exactly how long it takes for tissue paper to breakdown in a home compost pile, I setup and experiment. In this experiment I took 3 different colored sheets of tissue paper and buried them in my home compost pile. I shredded half of the pink sheet to see how much that would help speed up the process. I then dug all 3 sheets back out each week to check how they were progressing.
It took about 8-10 weeks for all sheets to decompose. The results and photos are found below.
After 1 Week
After just one week on being in a home compost pile, each sheet showed signs of decomposition. However, the pink sheet decomposed much faster then the red or white sheet. This was especially true for the shredded pieces.
After 2 Weeks
After two weeks, each sheet of tissue paper showed a fairly significant amount of decomposition. This stretch of weeks were hot and dry, so it’s possible some moisture would have speed things up. We didn’t want to turn the pile though and accidentally lose the pieces of tissue paper.
After 3 Weeks
After three weeks, each sheet of tissue paper is continuing to break down. At this point its difficult to pick the pieces out of the compost pile and grass without them ripping apart.
After 5 Weeks
After five weeks, the pink sheet is nearly gone and difficult to pick up. For this next run of weeks, we buried the sheets just a bit deeper in the pile so they will have more moisture.
After 9 Weeks
By week 9, we could only find very small pieces of the white and pink tissue paper. You may not even be able to see them in the images above. However, the red tissue paper was much easier to find in larger pieces. It’s possible that microorganisms are not as interested in the red sheet, due to it’s use of more saturated, unappealing dyes.
How Long Does Tissue Paper Take To Decompose?
It takes about 8-10 weeks for tissue paper to decompose, based on our experiments.
Of course, the exact amount of time could change based on a number of factors. The size of the tissue paper, temperature, moisture, and the size and contents of your pile can all play a role in how quickly any material breaks down, including tissue paper.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is It Safe To Compost Tissue Paper?
Tissue paper can be a safe option for your compost pile if its free of acids, dyes, foil, glitter, coating, and other non-paper materials. Paper is a safe and beneficial option for home compost piles.
Since plastics don’t degrade in a compost pile, they will remain there until removed by the rain, wind, or an animal. Each of those options have different negative environmental impacts. Plastics, dyes, and acids can potentially negatively impact your compost pile by disrupting the microorganisms that make your compost pile healthy. They can also negatively impact the growth of the vegetation you plan on using your compost for. This can potentially include vegetable gardens and grasses that you, your pets, or local wildlife consume.
What Is The Best Way To Dispose Tissue Paper?
Composting is a great option for disposing of tissue paper, due to its short fibers. The short fibers make tissue paper a lower quality than other paper products and a poor option for recycling.
Can Tissue Paper Go In Municipal Compost?
Tissue paper can go to a commercial compost facility. In fact, according to New York City’s compost program tissue paper should be sent to a municipal composting center. Composting generates the least environmental impacts in comparison to landfilling or recycling.
Is Tissue Paper Biodegradable?
Tissue paper is 100% biodegradable, as long as it doesn’t have any foils, plastics, or coatings.
Is Tissue Paper Recyclable?
Tissue paper is recyclable, according to the EPA. However many recycle centers don’t want it. This is because the quality of the paper os very low and hard to sell for reuse.
Some waste management companies will accept many type of paper because it increases the amount of material that gets recycled, even if some of it is undesired material such as tissue paper.
Does It Matter If Tissue Is Soiled?
Tissue paper can be composted even if it’s soiled. This is one of the strengths of composting paper items over recycling. Recycling requires higher-quality, soil free paper. Composting works with pretty much any type of paper, even if it’s soiled.
Can Colored Tissue Be Composted?
Colored tissue paper can be composted. While it will fully break down, it will leave dyes in the compost pile. You should make sure the dye in non-toxic and that wherever the compost will be used is not a sensitive area.
