The Best Countertop Compost Bins

Things can get messy fast when you’re cooking—especially if you’re doing a lot of prep work like peeling carrots, stemming herbs, or dicing onions. Those scraps can clutter your workspace and all too often end up in the trash. In fact, Americans contribute billions of pounds of food to landfills every year. Composting those scraps can divert a lot of waste from landfills and cut down on the resulting methane emissions.

Of course, composting is not new. Farmers and gardeners have utilized decomposed organic matter to nourish their fields and crops for millennia. This age-old practice has become increasingly prevalent in the homes of non-farmers, too. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of food scraps and yard trimming composted increased by 6.4% from 2015 to 2018. Today, many cities across the nation are rolling out municipal composting programs. 

Whether you have space for a backyard composter or you live in a city that offers curbside pickup, you need a countertop receptacle to collect your food scraps and to transport the scraps when the bin is full. Countertop compost bins are often more aesthetically pleasing than plastic utility buckets or plastic bags, and the best models strike the perfect balance between design and functionality. Some also offer helpful features that make storing scraps easier, including filters intended to contain smells. Most models can be used with or without biodegradable bags (we tested ours with 2.6 gallon SuperBio compostable bags, a popular brand that’s widely available via online retailers). The types of bins we tested are perfect for storing food scraps but are not meant for turning scraps into compost.

• Lightweight Models: Models weighing more than 4 pounds were hard to lift, both when empty and when full. We preferred bins that were lighter—around 2 pounds or less when empty.

• Secure Handles: If you’re carrying heaps of rotting organic matter, the last thing you want is to spill it all over your kitchen floor due to a flimsy handle. Our favorite bins had relatively secure handles that were firmly connected to the sides of the bins and  remained attached, no matter the load.

• Flip-Top Lids: When our hands were wet or dirty from cracking eggs or performing other common cooking tasks, we liked being able to open lids with the back of our hand. We also appreciated lids that stayed open when we wanted them to and those that were easy to close when we were done adding scraps. 

• Wide Openings: Dumping a heap of peels or scraping off a cutting board was much easier with bins that had large openings. The opening of our winning models measured from 6.25 to 7 inches wide, compared to just 5 inches for our least favorite. 

• Models Without Nooks and Crannies: Some of the bins had more crevices than others, including narrow slits where the lid secures to the bin. Gunk and mold tended to get stuck in these nooks and crannies. We liked bins that allowed us to get a sponge or scrub brush into every corner and were easy to dry.

Nice to Have

• Detachable Lids: Models with detachable lids were easier to clean because we could scrub each component separately. 

• Bag-Gripping Collars: A few models had rings or collars built into their lids that held compostable bags in place.

• Narrow Openings: When we dumped scraps or coffee grounds into bins with narrow openings, we often made a mess on the counter.

• Ceramic Models: It’s best to avoid ceramic bins since they’re usually heavy and fragile. They can fall and shatter while being handled or cleaned. 

• Loose Lids: Lids that just rested on top of bins felt like open invitations for fruit flies.

• Loose Hook-Style Handles: Loosely attached hook-style handles were prone to falling off, which could spell disaster while transporting a bin to be dumped. 

• Capacity and Shape: If you eat lots of fresh foods or have a big household, you probably want a larger model that can hold at least 2 gallons. If you have a small household or rarely cook, a smaller bin will likely be best.

• Filters: Some models come with filters under their lids that are intended to trap odors. Most manufacturers recommend replacing them every two to three months. In our tests, models with filters didn’t contain smells any better than models without filters. If you like having a filter, we found several models with them to recommend.

• Compostable Bags: Using a compostable bag in your bin can make cleanup easier. However, all bags are not created equal. Some of the models included bags that ripped when we unfolded them. For consistency, we ordered 2.6 Gallon Compostable Food Scrap Bags and tested each model with them. We found these bags to be much stronger. Be sure to check with your local or municipal composting program before buying compostable bags to make sure they allow them to be thrown out with your compost.