Dispose of charcoal on the compost

Can charcoal be put on the compost?

Barbecue charcoal is made from organic materials, either wood or special charcoals. The ash can be composted, but the Federal Environment Agency advises against adding charcoal ash to the compost.

This is due to heavy metal deposits that the trees absorb over time. These are not broken down in the compost and later in the Fertilize distributed in the garden. This is particularly a problem when fertilizing vegetables and fruit, as the heavy metals get into the human organism when they are consumed.

If you grill only rarely once and take care not to unnecessarily contaminate the charcoal with fat or grill lighters, composting is certainly not a concern.

Barbecue charcoal without heavy metals

• Use charcoal with little heavy metals
• do not use grill lighters
• Do not let the fat drip into the embers
• Compost charcoal ash in small quantities

When you grill, you should only use charcoal for your own health, which is labeled as "low in heavy metals". Care is taken to ensure that these products come from stocks that have not been exposed to excessive environmental pollution or otherwise contaminated.

You should not buy products that are not labeled as “low in heavy metals”, and certainly not later dispose of them on the compost.

Compost charcoal without fat residues or alcohol

If you grill without aluminum trays, fat drips into the embers. This creates the dreaded acrylamides, which are considered carcinogenic. The ash is contaminated with it and belongs in the household waste and not in the compost.

This also applies if you have used alcohol or other similar lighters as a lighter.

It is harmless if you have poured beer over the charcoal while grilling.

Do not compost too much ash from charcoal

Let the ashes cool down well before composting! Don't put too much charcoal ash on top of the compost at once. Mix You can do this with other, preferably moist, green waste.