They’re just beans in a tomato-y sauce so will rot down quite quickly – but the salt and other flavourings may attract undesirable vermin to an open heap. In a pretty enclosed bin, they’ll probably be fine.

As for wormeries, worms are not a fan of baked beans (they can’t make toast to accompany it, so what’s the point?) so it’s best to leave them out for fear of offending your wiggly, composting friends.

The smell of rotting meat or other meat products is likely to attract rats and other animals to your compost heap so best to avoid adding it if possible.

(Some people with completely sealed bins or very active wormeries are happy to add meat, particularly just little scraps.)

You should also avoid adding things that have come into contact with meat (eg, during cooking), even if you could normally compost them. For example, onions are fine to compost but onions cooked underneath a pork or beef roast will have soaked up meat fat and juices so shouldn’t be composted.

Similarly, bones including chicken carcasses should not be composted – not only might they attract rats and the like, they will take years and years to break down.

On the other hand, worms in wormeries love it – they typically “process” it before it becomes a problem.

So it’s a definite maybe: yes, add it to a wormery and possibly to an enclosed or well-established compost bin, but maybe leave it out of a basic, slow-composting heap for the time being.

Also see: ways to use up bits of cooked rice before it goes off

It doesn’t matter whether it is sponge, pastry or fruit/mousse-based like in the picture – it won’t add a lot of nutrients or bulk to your compost heap and while it will rot down quite quickly, they might attract rats or other vermin to your compost heap in the meantime. The reward isn’t worth the risk.

Instead, use it up – even dry or going stale sponge cake can be turned into treats. Use in a trifle, as part of a pie biscuit crust or bake them into biscotti or sweet croutons. For more ideas, see our Recycle This page about things to do with old cake.

The benefit of adding waste cooking oil to a compost heap are vastly outweighed by the potential problems. Not only can they attract rodents and other undesirable creatures to your compost heap, they can cause problems for the composting process: the oils can form water-resistant barriers around other material, displace water and reduce air flow in a heap, thus slowing down the composting process.

However, vegetable oils such as rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, corn oil or olive oil can be composted in very small quantities as long as they haven’t come into contact with any forbidden food stuffs (like meat, cheese or fish). If you’ve soaked up a bit of oil with some kitchen roll, that’ll be ok to add but don’t pour the contents of a deep fat fryer into your compost bin.

Large quantities of used vegetable oil can be recycled – your local council should be able to advise if it is possible in your area.

Some people use leftover cooking oils that are solid at room temperature to make bird feeders (fat balls) for the garden.

Waste cooking oil should NOT be poured down the sink – it can clog pipes and sewers.

While it will rot down quite quickly, it might attract rats or other vermin to your compost heap in the meantime.

Little bits can be added to wormeries but don’t add a lot in one go as it can be too salty for the worms.

Use up older bread rather than throwing it away – going stale bread can be turned into breadcrumbs, croutons or used for puddings.

Flour and the paper bags it usually comes in both compost down pretty quickly so in theory you could just throw them in as they are – but it is better to rip open the bags and mix the flour into the rest of the compost heap for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, rodents love flour and can easily defeat paper packaging – mixing it in will help deter undesirable visitors to your plot. Secondly, a layer/lump of flour is pretty compact/dense and could reduce the air flow in your compost heap – again, stirring it into the heap will lessen that issue.

Also: You can also use out of date flour to make paper glue or play/modelling dough. If it’s infested with weevils, you can freeze it first to kill the little blighters.

The smell of rotting fish or other fish products is likely to attract rats and other animals to your compost heap so best to avoid adding it if possible.

(Some people with completely sealed bins or very active wormeries are happy to add it, particularly just little scraps.)

Don’t forget that fish bones and heads can be used to make fish stock as well as other meals.

Moisture is an essential part of the composting process and that can come from fruit juices as well as water.

Add it to the centre of the pile if you can and/or stir it into the compost so it can be soaked up by drier “browns” deep within the heap.

Avoid overwetting the heap in general though – if your heap is on the damp side already, add some of those browns – newspaper, cardboard or fallen leaves – to soak up the excess wetness.

Don’t compost smoothies though if they’ve been made with yogurt or other dairy products in case they attract rats or other unwanted visitors to your compost heap.

In the future, why not freeze the juice or smoothies into ice cubes or ice lollies before it goes off? There are more idea for using up close-to-going-off juice on Recycle This.

While even uncooked pasta will rot down quite quickly once it’s got a bit wet, it might attract rats or other vermin to your compost heap in the meantime – especially if it’s been cooked with eggs or cooked with meats, oils or sauces.

Use it up rather than throwing it away – leftover pasta makes a quick lunch as a frittata or it can be added to soups or stews. Poultry and other birds, and some dogs, also enjoy it as a treat.