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Composting

Composting is a natural process of decomposition and recycling of kitchen and yard wastes into a humus-rich soil amendment know as compost.  Compostable material comprises nearly 30% of the municipal solid waste stream.  Remember, the more materials we save for recycling or composting, means less material taken to the landfill.

  Benefits
  • Is a natural process that will return valuable organic materials back to the earth
  • Is very inexpensive to do and does not require a tremendous amount of time or physical space
  • Is an environmentally safe approach to taking care of a majority of your household solid waste stream
  • Provide long-term financial benefits to you as a taxpayer by reducing the amount of waste entering the landfill-no overhead/operational costs and adding to the longevity of the landfill itself.
  • You can divert as much as 30% of your household trash from the landfill and transform this material into something that is usable and is environmentally friendly.
  • Organic matter in the soil improves plant growth by breaking up heavy clay soils, adding water and nutrient holding capacity to sandy soils, and by adding essential nutrients to any soil.
  • Use compost to enrich the flower or vegetable garden, to improve the soil around trees and shrubs, as a soil amendment for houseplants and planter boxes.
  • Screened compost can be used for seed starting mix or lawn top dressing.

What to Compost

As a general rule of thumb, anything that once was alive can be composted.

Kitchen Compost

  • Food scraps (excluding meat, bones, and fatty foods such as cheese, salad dressing, and oils)
  • Egg shells
  • Nut shells
  • Coffee grounds

Yard or Garden Compost

  • Leaves
  • Grass clippings
  • Yard trimmings such as flowers, plants, weeds, etc.
  • Woody yard waste such as tree branches, sawdust, etc.
  • Shredded newspaper
  • Ashes
  • Manure
  • Hay or straw

How to Begin Composting

  • Determine the type of holding bin that best suits your needs
  • Determine how the composted material will be used
  • Determine what type of material will be composted


For more specifics on composting visit the following websites:

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Tri Community Recycling and Sanitary Landfill
P.O. Box 605
Caribou, ME  04736
(207) 473-7840