Cat Litter Disposal - No Easy Answers
Kitty Litter Impacts the Environment Both Before and After Use
Aug 31, 2009
Cat litter disposal is not something that most cat owners think about. Just toss it in the trash, and it's gone, right? Well, it may come as a surprise to realize how cat litter affects the environment, both before and after it's used.
Mark Klaiman wrote a thought-provoking article, "Litter and the Environment," which was published in the June, 2008, issue of Pet Product News. His article raises many questions with no easy answers.
Where Does Cat Litter Come From?
Clay cat litter is made from sodium bentonite, a type of clay. According to Mr. Klaiman's article, over 2.54 million tons of it are mined every year, mostly by strip mining. About 85 percent of this mineral is used in kitty litter.
In the process of strip mining, the top layer of soil is removed, and the sodium bentonite is taken out with a scraper. This leaves a pit behind. Although reclamation is required by law, there is some controversy over how much reclamation is being done, and whether it's doing much good.
The bentonite must be dried and processed into cat litter. The drying process uses oil and gas, which has its own environmental impact.
Crystal cat litters are made from silica. This material is light, and is often imported into the United States from other countries. This also uses oil and gas.
Natural cat litter is made from wheat, corn, pine, peanut shells, and other materials, including recycled newspapers. Most of these materials are by-products from other manufacturing processes, so these types of cat litter may be viewed as being more environmentally friendly than the other kinds.
Questions About Cat Litter Disposal
The question is, what happens to the kitty litter once it's used? Usually it's just tossed out. But when a person stops and thinks about how many cats are kept as pets in the US, the amount of cat litter being put into landfills every year is staggering, as Mr. Klaiman points out.
What about biodegradable cat litter? Most natural cat litter is sold as being more environmentally friendly, since it breaks down in the environment. But as Mr. Klaiman said, if it's going to the landfill, it's not breaking down, especially if it's in plastic bags. Most material in landfills is packed tightly and buried, so it never decomposes.
It's possible to compost cat litter, but most cities and towns with composting programs don't want animal waste. This is a health issue, since parasite eggs are not killed during the composting process. If compost containing animal waste is used on food crops, it's possible for the parasites to infect humans who eat the food.
Some cat owners are able to compost their own used natural cat litter, but the resulting compost should only be used on ornamental landscaping, and never on a vegetable garden.
What About Flushable Cat Litter?
Flushing cat litter down the toilet opens up an entirely new range of questions, according to Mr. Klaiman. First, even though this litter is advertised as flushable, there's still a good chance of stopping up the pipes with it. So many cat owners just throw it out, to avoid potential plumbing problems.
The second issue is that of flushing cat feces down the toilet. Mr. Klaiman's article points out that water treatment plants are pretty effective, but they're not equipped to deal with toxoplasma gondii, a parasite sometimes found in cat feces. In California, this is becoming a problem because this parasite infects and kills the sea otters who live in the Pacific ocean off the coast.
So What's a Cat Owner to Do?
No matter what kind of cat litter is used, there will be an environmental impact, either in how it's manufactured, or how it's disposed of, or both. There really aren't any easy answers right now, but cat litter disposal is sure to become a controversial question in the future.
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