Eco-friendly cat litter is kinder to the planet than other types like clay and silica litter.
It’s biodegradable, so instead of sending it to landfill, you can;
- Dispose of it in your green waste bin
- Compost it yourself, and
- Some brands market them as flushable
But which is the best eco-friendly cat litter? In this article, we’ll take a look at our 5 top picks.
The Best Eco-Friendly Cat Litter: Our 5 Top Picks
If you just want to know which products we recommend, have a look at the table below. If you want to know more about that product, click the ‘Read Our Review’ link.
Cat’s Best Wood Litter: The Best Biodegradable Litter
4.0 out of 5.0 stars (4.1)
Cat’s Best wood-based clumping litter produced very little dust, clumped well and locked in odours. And it’s compostable.
The World’s Best Cat Litter: Best Flushable Clumping Litter
4.3 out of 5.0 stars (4.3)
If you’re looking for cat litter you can flush, The World’s Best Cat Litter is the best. It clumps well but won’t block your waste pipes.
The World’s Best Cat Litter: Best For Multiple Cats
4.3 out of 5.0 stars (4.3)
If you own multiple cats, The World’s Best Cat Litter is a good option. It has all the same benefits as the original but forms firmer clumps.
Breeder Celect Paper Cat Litter: Best For Kittens
4.0 out of 5.0 stars (4.0)
Breeder Celect Recycled paper cat litter is best for kittens and cats with sensitive feet. Very absorbent and controls odours well.
CJ’s Premium Wood Pellets: Best Cheap Eco-Friendly Litter
4.2 out of 5.0 stars
If cost is your main concern, CJ’s Premium Wood Pellet cat litter is almost dust-free, absorbent, and does a decent job at containing smells.
Why Should You Trust Our Recommendations?
At Pet Checkers, our pet carers spend every day scooping the poop out of cat litter boxes.
It’s not a glamorous job but someone’s gotta do it!
We have lots of eco-conscious clients who use biodegradable cat litters and so we use them every day. As such, we’ve based our recommendations for the best cat litters on real-world testing and experience.
How We Chose the Best Biodegradable Cat Litters to Test
When choosing eco-friendly, biodegradable and compostable cat litters to test, we;
- Relied on our own experience as professional pet carers
- Talked with our customers to understand their thoughts and opinions
- Look at online reviews left on websites like Amazon, Zooplus, Pets at Home etc.
This gave us a range of eco litters to test.
How We Ran Our Tests
We tested our chosen litters over the course of 4 weeks in a live environment. That means, real use with real cats.
We agreed with our customers to go and clean their cat litter trays twice a day, every day for those four weeks.
It was a lot of work!
Anyway, each time we cleaned a litter tray, we took a notepad with us and scored the litter on;
- Cost per kilo – we calculated the average cost of buying them online (not including delivery costs). Then divided the cost by the weight.
- How dusty it was – we wanted to see how much dust there was when pouring it into the litter tray.
- How well clumping versions clumped – we test how well they clumped and how easy they were to scoop.
- Odour control – we stuck our heads in lots of litter boxes and took a whiff to see how well these litters masked odours.
- Tracking – we wanted to see how much litter stuck to cat’s paws and how far it tracked.
Eco-Friendly Cat Litter Reviews: A Closer Look at Our Top Picks
After testing 12 different eco-friendly cat litters over 4 weeks, we’ve narrowed our recommendations to our 5 top picks.
So let’s take a closer look at why we think these are the best.
1. Cat’s Best Wood-Based Clumping Litter: Best Clumping Eco-Friendly Cat Litter
| Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost (per kilo) | Around £2.05 |
| Dust | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Clumping | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Odour Control | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Ease of Scooping | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Tracking | 3.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Total Score | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars (4.1) |
Cat’s Best Original wood clumping cat litter also made it onto our list of best clumping cat litters.
There’s a little bit of dust when pouring it into the litter tray, but not much. And because it’s so porous, it forms decent clumps that are easy to scoop.
It does a decent job at controlling odours too. During our tests, soiled litter didn’t really smell at all.
The only downside was that it tracked a bit. Which, let’s be honest, all cat litter does. But we found that for long-haired cats, it stuck in their furry feet and tracked everywhere.
That said, we didn’t have the same issues for short-haired breeds.
2. The World’s Best Cat Litter Original: The Best For Flushing
| Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost (per kilo) | Around £2.44 |
| Dust | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Clumping | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Odour Control | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Easy of Scooping | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Tracking | 3.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Total Score | 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (4.3) |
If you’re looking for flushable cat litter, try The World’s Best Cat Litter.
It’s made from compressed corn kernels that come from sustainable sources.
It does contain some dust. In fact, over the years we’ve used it, we can say that some bags contain more dust than others. It is a natural product after all, so no two bags are ever exactly the same.
That said, it clumps pretty well, although big clumps can have a tendency to break up. They don’t disintegrate, but one big clump might become two smaller clumps when you scoop.
This is actually a good thing if you’re planning to flush it as smaller clumps are easier to flush. Big, hard clumps are likely to block your waste pipes.
It doesn’t smell either. Even if there’s quite a bit of mess, it does a good job of keeping the stink in the litter box.
Again though, this litter can track a bit. Because the individual grains are so light, they can get stuck in your cat’s fur and carried around the house. Even more so for long-haired breeds.
And at around £2.44 per kilo, it’s quite expensive.
3. World’s Best Cat Litter Multiple: The Best For Multiple Cats
| Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost (per kilo) | Around £2.48 |
| Dust | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Clumping | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Odour Control | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Easy of Scooping | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Tracking | 3.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Total Score | 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (4.3) |
If you have several cats, then the World’s Best Cat Litter For Multiple cats is excellent.
It’s the same as their original litter in almost every single way. It’s made from corn, has low dust, controls odours and is flushable.
The only difference is the added ingredient which helps to form firmer clumps. This prevents the litter from disintegrating when used by several cats.
If you’re concerned about the smell, they also make a Lavender scented option.
4. Breeder Celect Recycled Paper Cat Litter: Best For Kittens and Cats With Sensitive Feet
| Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost (per kilo) | Around £1.35 |
| Dust | 4.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Clumping | N/A |
| Odour Control | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Ease of Scooping | 3.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Tracking | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Total Score | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars (4.0) |
If you’re litter-training kittens or have a cat with sensitive feet, Breeder Celect recycled paper litter is a good choice.
In fact, it also made it onto our list of the best non-clumping cat litter and best kitten litter.
The recycled paper pellets are much softer on cats’ feet than wood, corn or clay litter. During our tests, some cats struggled when standing and digging in other types of litter. Sometimes avoiding the litter box altogether.
The difference we saw in some of them when we changed their litter to Breeder Celect was pretty stark.
It works well too.
There was no dust when pouring it into the litter tray. The pellets are super absorbent and surprised us at how well it kept the smell to a minimum.
We also found that because of the size of the pellets, they didn’t track all over the house. That said, because it’s so light, we found some cats would kick it out of the litter tray.
As good as it is at absorbing wee, it doesn’t coat poo like other litters. So you’ll want to scoop it to stop it from smelling.
At around £1.35 per kilo, it’s one of our cheaper options too.
5. CJ’s Premium Ultra Absorbent Wood Pellets: Best Cheap Eco Cat Litter
| Criteria | Rating |
|---|---|
| Cost (per kilo) | Around £0.86 |
| Dust | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Clumping | N/A |
| Odour Control | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Easy of Scooping | 3.5 out of 5.0 stars |
| Tracking | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars |
| Total Score | 4.0 out of 5.0 stars (3.8) |
If cost is your main concern, try CJ’s Premium Wood Pellet cat litter. At around £0.86 per kilo, it’s our cheapest pick.
Almost dust-free, it’s very absorbent and the wood does a good job of trapping smells too.
CJ’s Premium Wood Pellets don’t clump. Instead, they break down into sawdust. This isn’t a bad thing and it’s easy enough to scoop. But if you prefer the ease of scooping a clump, this might not be the litter for you.
The wood pellets are pretty big so they don’t get stuck in your cats’ paws and carried around the house.
Frequently Asked Questions
Looking at online reviews to find the best biodegradable cat litter can help you to make a decision. Sometimes though, it can make you even more confused.
Two people might review the same product in very different ways. Here are two reviews for our top pick, Cat’s Best.
The good;
Best cat litter out there, and as a veterinary nurse, I’ve tried many!
All-natural is a massive plus point.
One bag lasts my cat around a month, just scoop out the mess and top up as required. He is almost 100% indoor and only uses the litter tray, so if anyone is put off by the price it does last a long time.
The bad;
The worst cat litter I have ever used! The tread is awful! The litter is so fine that it becomes trapped in the paw, then trodden everywhere.
The reason for this, at least in our experience, is that cat litter is made from natural materials. And because they’re natural, they vary.
Two bags of the same cat litter;
- Can have different amounts of dust
- Might clump more or less than the other
- Be more or less absorbent, etc.
We’ve based our recommendations on our years of experience of using cat litter since 2013. So rest assured, these are the best.
You can also compost it and use it in your garden borders and flower beds. That said, home compost heaps often don’t get hot enough to kill all parasites in cat litter. So don’t use it on veggie patches or anywhere you grow food.
Read More: Can You Compost Cat Litter?
Or, you can dispose of it in your green waste bin. Your council will turn it into compost.
You can flush some types of biodegradable cat litter. That said, only flush cat litter that’s marked as flushable.
We don’t recommend flushing cat litter at all. Some cats carry a parasite called Toxoplasmosis gondii. Most UK water treatment plants aren’t equipped to kill it. So by flushing used cat litter, you could contaminate your local water supply.
Read More: Is Cat Litter Flushable?
