Is Paraffin Wax Biodegradable?

Paraffin is a petroleum product. It does not rot down like leftover soy on a compost heap you should not have put wax on anyway. Marketing that calls paraffin “clean” because a lab burned it in still air is doing a lot of work with the word clean.

Is that why we skip it? Partly. We also skip it because we would rather the wax in the tin came from plants, and because soy-coconut does the job we want for landscape scents. If you already own paraffin, burn it properly — trimmed, still, not as a heater — and then choose plant next time. We are not the police. We are a small pour in Ullapool with a preference. Soy vs paraffin.

Do not pour any wax down the sink. Biodegradable is not a synonym for “fine in the U-bend”.