You can compost kitchen roll – as long as it’s not been used to clean up anything too yacky.
What do we mean by “yacky”? Well, anything on the “don’t compost this” list really – if you’ve used your kitchen roll to clean up most pet waste or oil spills, or used it in connection with chemical cleaners/agents, then you shouldn’t compost them. The goop might attract unwanted pests to the heap or could be harbouring nasty bacteria or pathogens which might not get broken down composting process.
Kitchen roll or paper towels used to clean up general food mess are usually fine – unless they’re completely saturated with something from the “no” list, they’ll probably breakdown before it becomes a problem. Ditto paper napkins – as long as they’re not too greasy.
The inner cardboard tube from rolls can be composted too.
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Hi, my local council website says I can compost many of the things on your ‘no’ list (Dairy, Food scrapings, pasta and bread, etc.) so does your list refer more to home composters for the garden rather than the compost bins collected by the council?
Yes, councils use a more carefully managed composting process so they can break down things that either would take ages in a domestic compost heap or would attract vermin.
This site is aimed at people composting at home – follow your own council’s guidance about what they’ll accept as every area is different.