Compost Sort is a free online recycling and composting quiz game that runs in the browser with no download and no account. One item at a time appears — a banana peel, an aerosol can, a crisp packet — and you choose one of three bins. Every answer, right or wrong, is followed by a single line explaining why it goes there: crisp packets are plastic and metal bonded into one sheet, ceramic will not melt with glass, straws are too light for the sorting machines to catch. That line is the point of the game. The early levels are the things everyone knows; by level six you are on the items people genuinely get wrong. Rules differ from one council to the next, so the answers here are the ones that hold across the great majority of collections, and items whose answer changes from town to town have been left out rather than taught wrongly.
How to play Compost Sort
- An item appears on the card in the middle of the screen. Below it are three bins: Compost, Recycling and General Waste.
- Tap the bin you think it belongs in. The right answer is highlighted straight away and a line explains why.
- A correct answer moves on quickly; a wrong one holds the explanation on screen longer, because that is the part worth reading.
- Each level is a fixed number of items and needs a pass mark to clear — twelve of fourteen on the last level.
- The first two levels use only the obvious things. From level three the items need a moment, and from level six they are the ones people get wrong.
- The bins never move and never change colour, so the positions are worth learning.
- Restart Round replays the same items; New Items deals a different set from the same difficulty.
- A round with every item in the right bin is three stars.
Tips
- Ask what the thing is made of, not what it was used for. A greasy tray and a clean one are the same plastic; a paper towel and a wax paper sheet are not the same paper.
- Anything made of two materials bonded together is almost always general waste. Crisp packets, foil balloons and toothbrushes all fail for that one reason.
- Soft, stretchy plastic is the giveaway for general waste at the kerbside. If it scrunches and stays scrunched, it jams the machinery.
- Compost is not only food. Straw, sawdust from untreated wood and dead flowers are all garden waste, and hair genuinely composts too.
- Glass is not all one thing. Jars and bottles recycle together; drinking glasses, mirrors and ceramics melt at different temperatures and spoil the batch.
- When you are torn between recycling and general waste, ask whether a machine could pick it out. Too small, too light or too thin usually means it cannot.
- Read the explanations on the ones you get right as well. They are what make the level-six items obvious the second time you meet them.
FAQ
Is Compost Sort free to play?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. All twelve levels are included and unlock in order.
Do these answers apply where I live?
Mostly, but your local scheme is the authority. Kerbside recycling genuinely differs between councils and countries, so every item here was picked because the answer holds across the great majority of collections. Items whose answer flips from place to place — disposable coffee cups, tea bags, greasy pizza boxes — were left out rather than taught one way.
How is this different from the other sorting games here?
The rest are about doing — pouring, stacking, sliding. This one is about knowing: the item is right in front of you and the only question is which bin. It is cross-listed under Quiz for that reason, and it is the only sorting game on the site with a written answer for every item.
Is there a timer?
No. You can take as long as you like on every item, and the only thing on a clock is how long the explanation stays on screen before the next item arrives.
How many items are there?
Forty-five, split evenly across the three bins and three difficulty tiers. Later levels draw from all three tiers, so the everyday items keep turning up alongside the tricky ones.
Is it suitable for children?
Yes. The first two levels are deliberately the things a primary-school class would already half know, the explanations are one plain sentence each, and there is no timer and no way to lose beyond retrying a round.
Why is a broken drinking glass not recycling?
Because drinking glass, ovenware and window glass are made to melt at different temperatures from bottles and jars. A single piece in a glass batch can spoil it, which is why it goes in the general waste even though it is obviously glass.
Does Compost Sort work on a phone?
Yes. The three bins sit in a row across the bottom of the screen as large tap targets, which is the easiest place to reach in portrait.