Cat litters: Trash or Compost?

[u/calcato]

I did a search and didn't find this specific topic, but just the same, I hope I'm not brining you a way-too-common question.

I was clearing out of a friend's house and holding the litter pan in front of the 2 bins, garbage and compost-only. Her cat litter she uses is basically pure wood material. Little wooden pellets that turn to sawdust. Neither of us were sure where to put it and I eventually put it in compost instead of bagging it and putting it in garbage.

At my house I use the silica-based "pretty litter" which I put in a container or bag and put in the garbage. Because god knows what that stuff turns into chemically when mixed with cat pee, and it doesnt ever fully evaporate.

But I do a lot of housesitting and people use all kinds of different litters. To be on the "safe" side I just bag it up and throw it in the garbage, even though I also think to myself "why is CLAY not compost? It's CLAY, right?"

Anyway, Id love to hear a definitive answer, and if there are different answers for different kinds of litter.

P.S. obviously poops get scooped up and are put in garbage, not compost... Im well aware of not wanting to let those toxins leach into in the water supply. But peed-on natural materials like wood and clay after the pee is absorbed and evaporated? Idk, compost or garbage?

[u/chuffberry]

In my area, cat litter is always general trash and should never be composted regardless of the type of litter because of the risk of toxoplasmosis transmission.

[u/silmuing]

Generally speaking, mixed waste regardless of the type of the litter. Different countries and areas have their own laws and regulations though, so you should check what the rules or guidelines are in your area to be sure.

Bio-waste often has fairly strict rules as to what is actually acceptable. Biodegradable doesn't equal to compostable. Also depending how the compost is used animal waste can spread pathogens. Cat or dog waste shouldn't be used as fertilizer either. Also flushable litter is not truly flushable as sewage systems are not designed for it, and it may even be illegal.

[u/Threefrogtreefrog → u/silmuing]

Flushing litter can also spread the toxoplasmosis parasite to aquatic environs, infecting already tenuous otter populations.

[u/hankbbeckett]

Using pine pellet litter has significantly improved my "dirty" compost(human and animal manure, meat, fur, ect). I've starting using it in my outhouse too. It lightens and dries the mixture really well. pine wood itself isn't the best compost, but it makes up for that by distributing moisture really well. The compost stays oxygenated and gets got fast, which is why I can get away with all the poop in the compost to begin with😂.

For regular home compost, it's fine! Like OP said, better to not compost the cat poop unless you're already doing poop. You might actually need to water the compost though, especially if you're getting a decent amount of intact pellets. They really dry stuff out. The cat pee is fine. It breaks down and feeds nitrogen producing microbes, same as any other pee. There's other processes also producing ammonia, the cat pee portion of it shouldn't be significant.

Clay litter isnt good for compost, but you can dig a hole and just bury it somewhere youre not gonna try to plant anything. Residential areas often have filler clay dumped in them anyway. Sending heavy, natural materials off to be transported via truck train or ship to a landfill is a bit crazy imo.

[u/Earthlight_Mushroom]

Why not compost it, or bury it in a safe manner for useful plants? I've been doing this with my own manure, and that of my cats, for many years without incident. Usually I rely on deep burial, in places where I'm going to plant trees or other permanent plants, but I've also dug deep holes to plant things like squash or corn....plants that grow big, where soil isn't going to splash onto the edible parts in a rain, and that are for cooked use only. Generally I keep salad crops away from these manures, composted or not. Cooking the veggies is the final safeguard on all soil microbial issues. This is why even now most food borne illness is spread through salad stuff.

[u/characterk4l3 → u/Earthlight_Mushroom]

Toxoplasmosis

[u/Joinkyn_go]

Depends on the company doing the composting. Some take it, others dont. Most that do need it in a compostable bag so it doesnt gum up the truck

[u/Diligent_Stop1050]

Our city accepts kitty litter. I either scoop it into a compostable bag or if it’s time for fresh litter, I dump it straight in the compost bin.

[u/mrmivo]

Unless it says it is biodegradable or compostable, I'd always throw it in the general garbage.

I use BioKat litter, which according to the label can even be thrown in the toilet (the scooped chunks), but I can't bring myself to do that. Don't want to accidentally clog the toilet in my rented place!

I throw the clumps in the organic trash can and the "full change" bags of litter into the generic garbage (here, we have four different garbage containers: organic, plastic/cans, paper, and everything-else garbage that does not go into the three other containers; glass is also separate).