This is exactly my concern. It's so chemically treated that I worried it couldn't be commingled with other paper products.

Our composting facility "cooks" off chemicals in the process, but unless you use receipts like you would use shredded paper to line your yard waste cart, you might as well just recycle them.

You can check out the high-tech composting process at www.cgcompost.com

Okay, Brett, either you think I'm an idiot, or you're an idiot yourself. The composting process clearly does not evaporate all chemicals, or you would be left with nothing. Moreover, evaporation of BPA could still be an environmental hazard since, you know, it has to go somewhere.

An actual answer to the concern raised by this paper would be information regarding the BPA content of the fully composted product that you use and sell as fertilizer.

Since you didn't bother to read the paper I linked to, I'll point out one of the important points: it says the high content of xenoestrogens in the paper supply means paper shouldn't be composted. It further surmises that the high xenoestrogen levels are almost solely due to the practice of recycling thermal paper, since untreated paper does not contain these chemicals.

I don't know if these claims are true, but telling me that composting "cooks off the chemicals" is contributing absolutely nothing to anyone's understanding of the issue. All it says it that you think the product you're selling is ecologically sound, and aren't concerned about evidence to the contrary.

Okey dokey. Better recycle your receipts, then, or better yet, not ask for one.

Well, again, that study suggests that recycling thermal paper receipts is the problem - and in turn that this contaminates the whole paper supply to the point where you shouldn't composte paper.

I agree about not asking for one, of course, but on the other hand I frequently tell people "bring me a receipt or we can't reimburse you." So, we're kind of back to the question, "what should I do to dispose of this in an ecologically sound way?"

The German study you cite doesn't really look into the recycling and composting process and how it effects thermal paper. It primarily focuses on how BPA is in toilet paper and , and toilet paper gets in the sewer, therefore getting into the ecosystem.

It deserves further looking into. For now, I'm going to keep recycling my receipts, and consider installing a bidet in my bathroom.

That's not what I got out of it. The study is using toilet paper as an example of something that is largely manufactured out of recovered waste paper. It posits that thermal paper is likely the culprit for the high BPA levels in toilet paper because that is where BPA mostly enters the paper production cycle. They conclude that composting paper (which you recommended in your answer to this question) was not advisable.

Here's the specific language of the conclusion:
"Toilet paper was shown to being an important source of xenoestrogen emissions to wastewater. Thermal paper again is estimated being a major source for the contamination of recycled paper with BPA. Thermal paper represents a very small portion of the entire paper production but due to its extremely high BPA content it certainly mainly causes BPA input into the paper cycle. Because of the distinct contamination with the xenoestrogens OP, NP, BPA, NP1EO, and NP2EO, paper waste as well as recycled paper products should not be mixed with biological waste in order to derive organic fertilisers, e.g. via co-composting or co-fermentation."

I've always recycled ink-printed receipt paper, but I worried about whatever process thermal paper is treated with, and whether that process could make thermal paper non-recyclable.

Thanks for your answer!