What is Compostable?

Here at Green Mountain Compost, we make compost on a large scale. Unlike most backyard compost piles, our compost is carefully formulated using a wide variety of inputs and even our smallest piles are huge weighing in at hundreds of tons of mixed ingredients per pile! We actively aerate our piles and frequently monitor them to maintain the ideal amounts of oxygen and moisture for the microbial web that drives the composting process. By achieving ideal conditions, our pile temperatures get really hot really quickly – sometimes within hours.

The high temperatures of our compost process allow us to accept many items that simply don’t work in a backyard compost pile. While you might want to think twice before adding meat, bones, or other potentially tasty treats for four legged critters to your backyard compost pile, these ingredients work great for our composting process. Other materials such as dirt, sod, and metal don’t work so well and are not acceptable in our compost.

We do accept compostable products such as takeout containers, cups and other items that meet very specific standards. Please see the Compostable Products page for details.

Please Contact Us if you are unsure whether or not your item is compostable.

Acceptable Materials

Food and Beverages

If it’s edible, we can compost it! This includes:

Fats and Oil
Meat and Bones
All Fish and Seafood, including shells
Fruits & Vegetables
Eggs and Egg Shells
Milk, Cheese, and all other Dairy Products
Bread and Grains
Coffee and Tea
Condiments (salad dressing, ketchup, etc.)

Lawn and Garden Debris

Grass Clippings
Vines
Wood material under 1/2 inch diameter such as twigs, wood chips, old mulch, or sawdust
Weeds, old garden plants or house plants free of soil

Farm Manure

Most types of animal manure are accepted
No cat, dog, or human waste

Paper

Please recycle as much as you can and compost only small amounts of food-soiled paper including:

Uncoated paper plates
Greasy pizza boxes
Paper napkins, paper towels, bags, & table covers
Coffee and tea filters
Wood BBQ skewers

Please bring recyclable paper to a CSWD facility for recycling. CSWD Hours and Locations

We Cannot Accept

Wood larger than 1/2 inch in diameter. Please bring this to the McNeil Wood and Yard Waste Depot. Phone number: 802-864-7446
Petroleum-based plastic of any kind
Any plastic products that are labeled biodegradable, degradable, photo-degradable, oxo-degradable, etc.
Dirt or sod. How to dispose of dirt or sod
Any cat, dog, or human waste
Any cutlery except wood-based
Styrofoam
Metals, including foil wrapping and twist ties
Toxic materials such as paints, solvents, pesticides, or petroleum products. How to properly dispose of hazardous waste