Do you think that the wood shavings - curls, that are often used to pad out gift boxes, are suitable for a compost bin?
I don't want to put them in the rubbish but nor do I want them in the compost bin if they are going to leach chemicals etc...and make a poor environment for worms.
Any thoughts?

I would do it. Assuming its not treated timber but hard to believe they would use treated timber for this purpose.

According to this resource:

[www.askorganic.co.uk]

Apart from the question of whether they're treated or not apparently they take a very long time to rot down so may not be a good idea.