Why Can’t You Compost Meat?

Composting becomes more widespread and accessible all the time, keeping millions of tons of food waste from ending up in landfills every year. But there is one quirk of some composting programs that can be a little annoying: they don’t accept meat scraps. But why? And are there ways to overcome this limitation?

SciShow would like to extend a special thank you to Nathan Rutz for his insights into the science of composting!

Hosted by: Hank Green

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Sources:
https://pubs.extension.wsu.edu/backyard-composting
https://academica-e.unavarra.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2454/24148/wm.pdf;jsessionid=361A41F007B3018187335B2AD184050A?sequence=1
https://www.thespruce.com/basics-of-bokashi-composting-2539742
http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/AppendixATable1OFCH.pdf
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/needs_carbon_nitrogen.htm
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/fundamentals/biology_anaerobic.htm
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Lignin_-organosolv#section=Structures