Shreded paper as compost

[William Brown]

My wife bought me a shreder for Christmas. I keep forgetting to use it, but I have finally gotten to the point where I have to empty it, and I'm wondering if I can just dump it out in the compost pile. Most of the shredded papers are things like bank statements, which I would guess are printed by a laser printer, and I wonder if the toners would be somewhat toxic. I know a lot of people use newspaper in the garden and just let it decompose, so I would guess that not all inks are toxic.

[Phisherman]

Shredded paper can be used in limited quantities. Do not use papers with plastic or glossy coatings or paper with color inks.

[Joe Sandlin]

I agree about the slick papers, but why not use paper with color ink? No ink made today will contain the heavy metals of bygone years. It's all soy based stuff now. My worms happily eat the Sunday comics.

Joe (Copier and printer repair guy who reads the MSDS sheets.) :)

[Joe Sandlin]

Today, no inks available today in the USA for consumer end use are toxic, AFAIK. I've got twenty years in the copier, printer, duplicator business, and have watched the situation improve spectacularly as far as enviro-friendly things go.

Black toner is essentially carbon black and a thermoplastic (think hot glue). The colored inks in your newsprint are soy based.

Your shredded paper will also make great mulch. Once wetted down, it doesn't blow away. Also, it makes great worm bedding. No worries.

Joe