It depends on the type of composting system you’re using. Here’s a quick guide:

🌿 Standard Garden Compost Bin (cold or hot composting)
Avoid adding:

• Cooked food (it can attract rats and flies, and go slimy)

• Meat, fish, or bones

• Dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter)

• Fats, oils, and greasy food

• Cat and dog poo (can carry pathogens)

Safe to add:

• Raw fruit and vegetable peelings

• Tea bags (plastic-free only) and coffee grounds

• Crushed eggshells

• Garden waste (leaves, grass cuttings, prunings)

• Shredded cardboard and paper

🪴 Bokashi Composting (fermentation system)
Can take everything above plus cooked food, meat, fish, and dairy, because the process ferments rather than rots.
The fermented material can then be buried or added to a wormery or compost bin to finish breaking down.

🐛 Wormery (vermicomposting)
Best suited to raw fruit and veg scraps, tea, coffee grounds, and small amounts of bread or pasta.
Avoid large amounts of citrus, onion, spicy foods, dairy, meat, or oily foods — worms don’t like them!