How to Throw Out Used Cat Litter
Bag it, tie it, put it in the household bin, and take it outside the same day. Do not flush it, and do not make an exception for a bag that says flushable. That is the whole answer. The rest of this page is why, and how to keep the bin bearable.
Quick answer
- 1Bag every scoop, tie the bag, and put it in the household bin.
- 2Do not flush it. That holds for bags labelled flushable, because the label describes the litter, not the cat waste it is carrying.
- 3Take the bag outside the same day. A tied bag under the sink is where the smell comes from.
- 4On a full change, tip the whole box into one liner instead of scooping it out in stages.
- 5Compost it only if your local collection page says pet waste is accepted. Never on a heap that feeds a vegetable garden.
Why the toilet is the wrong answer
Carmel Area Wastewater District, a public wastewater agency, asks residents not to flush kitty litter and states that the pathogen in cat waste can survive wastewater treatment, so all litter and feces should go in the trash. It cites surveys where 70 percent of stranded sea otters carried the parasite.
This is not a plumbing warning. Clay will block your pipes, which is its own good reason, but the reason the agency gives is what comes out the other end of the treatment plant.
"Flushable" describes the litter, not the waste
These litters in our catalog carry a flushable claim on the bag. The claim is about the material breaking down in water, and it is generally true. It is still not a reason to flush the scoop, because what you are flushing is the cat waste.
Sustainably Yours
Natural Corn + Cassava
World's Best Cat Litter
Corn Litter
Catalyst Soft Wood
Soft Wood / Pine
Tuft + Paw
Soy / Tofu
Where a flushable litter does earn its keep is a home with no outdoor bin and a long walk to the building chute: a lighter, plant-based scoop is simply less to carry and it is not sitting in a landfill afterwards.
The routine that keeps the bin bearable
Scoop into a bag, not into the bin
A dedicated bag per scoop keeps the bin from becoming the smell. A used bread bag or a cheap dog waste bag does the job.
Tie it properly and take it out
Once it is tied, it belongs outside, not under the sink. Litter is the one household waste stream that is worse for sitting indoors.
Keep the outdoor bin lidded and off the sun
Warmth is what turns a tolerable bin into an unbearable one. Shade beats any product you can buy for it.
On full-change day, bag the whole box in one go
Tip the lot straight into a bin liner rather than scooping it out in stages. Fewer handfuls in the air, less dust in the room.
Composting and litters that break down
Read the local rules first
A plant-based litter is compostable as a material. Used cat litter is a different question, because of what is in it, and the answer is set by your council or collection service rather than by the bag.
Never put it on a heap that feeds a vegetable garden. If your area does accept pet waste, it will say so on the collection page, and it will say which bin.
Litters that break down, if that matters to you
- Naturally Fresh Walnut (Walnut Shell)
- Feline Pine (Pine Pellet)
- Ökocat Paper Pellet (Paper Pellet)
Breaking down matters in a landfill, where clay never will. It does not change how you should throw the scoop away this week.
Questions people ask
Can you flush cat litter down the toilet?
No, and that applies to litter sold as flushable. The Carmel Area Wastewater District states plainly that the parasite in cat waste can survive wastewater treatment, so all litter and feces should go in the trash.
Why is flushable cat litter sold if you should not flush it?
The label describes the material, not the contents. A corn or tofu litter really does break down in water. The reason not to flush it is the waste it is carrying, which treatment plants are not built to remove.
Can I compost used cat litter?
Not in a garden compost heap you grow food in, and not in most municipal green bins either. Some places accept plant-based litter, most do not, and the rule is set by your local collection service rather than by the bag.
How do I stop the litter bin smelling in an apartment?
Bag every scoop, take it to the building bin daily rather than storing it, and keep the container it waits in sealed and out of the sun. Waiting three days is what creates the problem.
Purrify - for when the litter is right and the room still smells
Activated carbon that goes into the litter you already use, so smell gets its own fix instead of a different bag. In our own use it made the biggest difference to litter-box smell of anything we have tried.
Read our Purrify guide to picking a litter for odor control.
- Activated carbon, sold in bags
- 5.0 Google rating
- Stocked in 40+ pet stores across Canada
The disposal advice on this page is sourced to a public wastewater agency, linked above. Flushable and biodegradable labels come from the product records in our own catalog.