The best kitchen trash cans in 2024, tried and tested

Picking out the right kitchen trash can be a surprisingly daunting task. You need to consider not just the size of the can that’s best for your home’s space but also the color, the technology (touchless, motion-sensing lids are very in) and how well it contains a heavy load of trash and controls any would-be odors.

Thankfully, today’s kitchen trash cans market is full of various options that seem to check all those boxes. Some allow you to open the lid with the wave of a hand while others have the potential of being the most beautifully designed product in your kitchen. Seriously.

To find the best kitchen trash cans, we tested 12 of the most popular models available in the only way that made sense: by tossing a lot of garbage. In the end, we found four great trash cans perfect for any taste or budget.

The stainless steel Simplehuman 38 Liter/10 Gallon Rectangular Kitchen Step Trash Can looks great and has all the essential features for making your life in the kitchen easier. While it’s smaller than your average kitchen trash can, we think it’s worth sacrificing a little capacity for convenience.

As soon as we unboxed this model, we found little touches that made using it easy. The interior bin can be pulled up to rest on a small ledge in the bottom of the can so you can easily insert a bag or arrange it so it doesn’t stick out of the lid and look messy. It’s a subtle feature that greatly impacts the trash can’s convenience factor. Even when fully filled, the bag remains securely in place, and pulling the bin up and resting it on the ledge makes it easy to lift the full bag out of the bin.

There’s also a foot pedal that opens the lid completely, minimizing the chance a wayward piece of cucumber skin winds up on the lid or the floor. The lid closes softly and silently, too. There’s also a latch that keeps the lid open when you want easy access to the can until your prep work’s done. As someone who cooks often, I confess this feature was a deal breaker.

Another critical factor for me was its removable liner. It’s not unusual to find a mess under a trash bag and it’s much easier to remove an inserted bin and thoroughly wash it than to clean the full can itself. The stainless steel finish is fingerprint-resistant which helps keep the exterior looking spiffy.

Also, all purchases of this model come with a ten-pack of Simplehuman trash bags. These are especially useful as they not only achieve a neat look but require little effort to install. Simplehuman does encourage you to use its bags (of course) but any trash bag will do, so don’t feel compelled to re-up on these somewhat expensive bags when the ten-pack runs out. They’re great but not necessary.

With its lid that can be left in an open position, this Simplehuman model is ideal for cooks who produce a lot of food waste and want to clear their workspaces without stepping on a peddle or waving a hand. And just about anyone can appreciate this model’s good looks and how easy it is to keep clean. It’s only available in stainless steel but comes in 30-, 46- and 50-liter sizes.

It also comes standard with a 10-year warranty. We like that, too.

If you want a quality trash can (and one that still has the Superhuman logo) and don’t want to spend top dollar, we recommend the Superhuman 40 Liter / 10.6 Gallon Slim Kitchen Step Trash Can with Secure Slide Lock. It still has a sleek look that won’t stick out like a sore thumb in your kitchen, despite the fact it’s plastic. With a slim profile, it can easily slide into tight cabinet spaces and won’t be obtrusive wherever it sits.

We found it easy to install a bag and liked that it took minimal effort to hide it. Simplehuman-branded trash bags are easier to conceal but any ordinary (i.e. cheaper) trash bag works with this model. It holds bags well, too, and stays in place even when the can gets full or when a heavy load of trash gets tossed in.

The can easily opens with a pedal and automatically closes softly and quietly. If you want to keep the lid open, just press it back firmly until you hear it click in place. The lid also has a latch you can slide into a locked position if you want to prevent pets or children from messing with the garbage. We also found that the lock did well to seal in odors. This was one of only two cans we tested from which we detected no odors whatsoever, even when we sniffed right where the lid opened.

Since this can have two attached wheels, you can easily move it around. When it contains a weighty load, it’s easy to wheel to an outdoor trash can or to get it closer to a trash chute. Our only major complaint about this model is there’s no removable liner. If a bag breaks or leaks, you’ll have to hose out the entire can.

This Simplehuman model is ideal for anyone looking for a kitchen trash can that’s easy to use and not overly concerned about its looks. It’s only available in black and comes with a 5-year warranty.

The Kohler 13-gallon Stainless Steel Slim Step Trash Can with Bifold Lid is one great-looking trash can that’s also extremely practical. Tall and narrow, it has an unusual lid that splits and folds when it opens so it isn’t so tall that it gets in the way when it’s fully opened. I found it simple to install in my kitchen and it’s easy to both hide a bag and remove it.

It’s versatile, too. After you open the can with the foot pedal, you can push back firmly on the lid to lock it in an open position. This is helpful during dinner prep if you have a lot of food waste or if you need to make multiple trips to throw something away.

Its removable liner means that if trash seeps through or bypasses the bag for any reason, you won’t have the chore of cleaning out the entire can. One drawback to this model is that when it has a heavy load, the bag tends to slip off the rim. This means you’ll want to empty the can promptly at that point so you don’t wind up with bits and pieces on the liner you’ll have to clean off.

This is a can for someone with a stylish kitchen who wants a trash can that doesn’t detract from its decor. Kohler offers it in white, black and stainless steel so you can match it to your appliances. There’s no need to sacrifice convenience for aesthetics thanks to its ability to stay open and included removable liner. It also comes with a 10-year warranty — a welcome add-on for something that costs this much.

Of the three touchless motion sensor trash cans we tested, our favorite was the Nine Stars DZT-50-28 Automatic Touchless Motion Sensor Rectangular Trash Can. Unlike Walmart’s Brightroom it wasn’t overly sensitive to motion and we found it easier to insert a bag and keep it in place than in the iTouchless. In terms of price, it was midway between its competitors.

This 13-gallon model has a stainless steel body and a black plastic lid. Before you begin using it, you have to install two DD batteries. If you depress the on/off button on the front for a few seconds you can turn it off when you’re not in the kitchen to save battery life. To operate it, you have the choice of waving your hand or pushing a button. If you open it with a movement, it automatically closes after about 5 seconds. When you do a lot of paring and peeling, you can keep the lid open by pressing a button and then close it by pressing it again. It was nice having this kind of versatility.

Installing the bag is fairly easy, although you do have to remove the lid and wrap the bag around a ring that helps keep it hidden and in place when you toss in a lot of trash. While removing the bag is easy, you have to remove the entire lid and lift the ring again. You get used to it after a few times but there is a slight learning curve.

This trash can doesn’t have a liner so you’ll need to rinse it out if garbage gets into the can. On the plus side, there are no crevices that can harbor debris or make it harder to get the can clean. And as the stainless steel is resistant to fingerprints, you won’t have to polish it to keep it looking nice. Nine Stars offers a 2-year warranty for the trash can, too.

We began testing each trash can by noting if any assembly was required and if any instructions were included, and how thoroughly those instructions explained the usage. For each can, we inserted a standard-size name-brand trash bag and noted how easy it was to put in place and whether or not the bag could be hidden for a neat appearance. Next, we filled the bag with its maximum weight capacity of garbage and checked to see if the bag stayed anchored in the can and how easy it was to remove.

We also used each can as we were doing meal prep to see how easy it was to fill with carrot trimmings, onion skins, avocado pits and the like as we worked. Among the things we noted were how easy it was to open the can, whether or not the lid could remain in an open position, and if the can needed to be touched at all to keep the lid open.

Next, we filled each can with a smelly load of garbage including hard-boiled eggs, onions, tuna fish and melon rinds and seeds, and allowed it to sit for 24 hours before giving it a sniff test to see if any odors escaped. While none of the cans released odors into the kitchen air, most were slightly smelly when we sniffed where the lids met the cans. We also considered whether the cans had removable liners and fingerprint-resistant finishes to make it easy to keep them clean.

As trash cans will be highly visible in the kitchen, we also evaluated each can’s attractiveness, asking questions like will it enhance a kitchen and will it fit in with a typical kitchen’s decor? For anyone who takes kitchen and pantry organization seriously, this is a major consideration.

Lastly, we gave extra points to trash cans that came with a solid warranty.

Ten to thirteen gallons or 40 to 45 liters is the most popular size for a kitchen trash can. It’s the perfect capacity for multi-person households that do a lot of meal preparation. However, a can this size isn’t small or easy to conceal. If most of your family’s meals are eaten away from home or out of a take-out container, consider a smaller and less obtrusive trash can that can hold 4 to 8 gallons.

Trash cans come in round, semi round and rectangular shapes. Rectangular cans are more space efficient and can sit neatly against a wall or counter.

You can choose from trash cans made of stainless steel or of plastic. You can’t beat stainless steel for style and durability but it may take more work to keep a shiny trash can looking, well, shiny. Metal cans are also heavier so less convenient if you plan to move the can around. ’

Most trash cans come with foot pedals. Increasingly, they’re available with motion sensors, which allow you to avoid touching the can but they can either require that your hand is in the correct position to activate the sensor or be overly sensitive. If you throw a lot of peels, pits and trimmings into a can as you cook, you’ll prefer hands-free operation, whether it’s with a pedal or a wave.

When you’re doing a lot of food prep, it’s great to have a lid that stays open. Some will stay open automatically but most require that you either lift the lid manually or give it a push to get it to stay open.

The wider the opening, the more convenient it is to toss in trash, especially small items like garlic skins, carrot peels and melon seeds that can easily wind up on the floor or stick to the outside of the can.

It’s super convenient to have a can with a removable liner. If a bag breaks or leaks, you can then easily take out the liner and clean it independently of the whole can. Cans without liners will be easier to clean if they’re smooth inside and free of crevices.