City of Toronto: Solid Waste Management

Materials To Compost

The following lists of items only apply to backyard composting or home composting, not the Green Bin Program:

Food:

apples
artichokes
asparagus
bananas
beans
beets
berries
bread
broccoli

brussel sprouts
buckwheat hulls
cabbage
carrots
celery
citrus fruits and rinds
coffee grounds
corn cobs (chopped)
cucumber

egg shells (crushed)
grapes
lettuce
melons
onions
oats and oatmeal
pears
pineapple

potatoes
pumpkins
rice
squash
tea bags and leaves
tomatoes
turnips
zucchini

Other:

algae (pond weeds)
apple pomace
blood meal
bone meal
cocoa bean shells
corn stalks
cotton rags
dryer lint
feathers
felt waste

flowers
garden waste
grape plant waste
granite dust
grass
hair
hay
hops (spent)
leather waste
dust

leaf mold
leaves
muck (marsh/swamp)
peanut hulls
peat moss
pine needles
plants (chopped)
rhubarb leaves
rope

sawdust
seaweed
soil
straw
string
weeds
wood ash
wool rags
yard waste

Do Not Compost:

butter
bones
charcoal or coal ash
cheese
chicken
diseased plants

dog and cat feces
fish
lard
margarine
mayonnaise
meat

milk
oils
peanut butter
pressure treated wood scraps or sawdust

sour cream
yogurt
vacuum bags and dust

Note: Composting these materials is not recommended due to: slowness in breakdown and potential of odours, attracting pests and toxicity.

Adapted from materials by the Seattle Tilth Association, the Seattle Solid Waste Utility, and the Recycling Council of Ontario.