Compostability – What can (or can't) be composted? GoZERO's Accepted & Prohibited Items

GoZERO prides itself on being a "broad spectrum" food waste to composting disposal service provider by offering a "broad spectrum" of acceptable items it can accept due to the larger scale and its more "disposal-centric" approach. We're focused on getting food waste out of landfills, not curating specific materials for a particular compost blend or bio-digestion process.

Backyard composting typically is best when only vegetative food waste is composted, and many composting service providers constrain what they accept due to limitations in their composting process or focus on producing a particular compost.

Download our general-purpose compostable flyer.

These items CAN be composted and are ACCEPTABLE in GoZERO containers.

• Animal Bedding & Waste (one exclusion is clay-based kitty litter)
• Baked Goods
• Chopsticks (wooden, bamboo, or other fiber-based)
• Coffee Filters
• Dairy (including up to 50% flowable liquids by volume per container, let us know if you think you may be disposing of large quantities of any flowable liquids)
• Egg & Egg Shells
• Egg Cartons (so long as they are not made with petroleum based plastic bits or styrofoam)
• Fats (including up to 50% flowable liquids by volume per container, let us know if you think you may be disposing of large quantities of any flowable liquids)
• Fruits
• Meat & Bones (uncooked and cooked)
• Nuts
• Paper & Paper Products (make sure items are not coated with plastic and do not have plastic parts)
• Paper Towels
• Parchment Paper
• Pasta
• Pizza Boxes (don't include any plastic parts)
• Seafood & Shellfish (uncooked and cooked)
• Serviceware
  • ASTM D6400 compliant materials 
  • BPI Certified Compostable Plastic Packaging/Containers
  • TUV Certified Compostable Plastic Packaging/Containers
• Sugars
• Tea Bags
• Vegetables
• Wax Paper (make sure it has a wax and not a plastic coating)
• Wood Waste & Yard Trimmings

These items CANNOT be composted and are PROHIBITED in GoZERO containers.

• Aluminum in any form (eg, foils, cans, etc)
• Cartons (eg, milk cartons, juice cartons, etc)
• Clothing
• Electronics
• Glass & Glass Containers
• Healthcare & Hygiene Products
• Metal of any kind
• Nitrate & Rubber Gloves
• Plastic Film Bags of any kind (eg, snack food bags, sandwich bags, grocery bags, etc)
• Plastic wrap (eg, Saran Wrap)
• Rock & Stone
• Styrofoam
• Traditional Petroleum-Based Plastics (eg, containers, coatings, films, etc)

A couple of our mottos...

"If it grows, it goes." AND "When in doubt, keep it out." 

Don't hesitate to get in touch with us with specific questions or suggestions.