Best Kitchen Trash Cans of 2026

Ten inches of width is the entire reason to buy this can. At 18.6 by 10.1 by 24.9 inches, it slides into the strip between a cabinet end and a doorway, or beside the refrigerator, where a 14-inch-wide can simply doesn't go. The back runs flat enough to push against the wall, so the narrow body isn't standing in the walkway instead.

Forty liters covers a two-person kitchen, and it still swallows standard 13-gallon bags without a knot in the corner. The slide lock is why you pick this over a plain step can when a dog or a toddler shares the kitchen: it holds the lid down until someone works the latch deliberately. The lid also clips open for chores, and at about six pounds the can is light enough to wheel out on its built-in wheels when the bag gets heavy.

The lid is where this one gives ground. It can stop a few degrees short of closing, which leaves the lock doing nothing and a small gap for smells, so press the pedal and watch it settle before you count on the latch. Even with that caveat, we point anyone with real floor space at the 50L and keep this one for the kitchens where the alternative is no can at all.

Twenty gallons is the number that decides this one: 75.5 liters, roughly half again the capacity of the 50-liter cans that dominate this set. The body is a 16-inch square and 29 inches tall, so it wants a corner of its own rather than a slot beside the fridge, but you're not hauling a half-full liner out to the curb as often.

What we appreciate most is the rear bag compartment. Spare liners live behind the can and pull out from the side, so replacing a bag never becomes a hunt through a cupboard with a full liner in one hand. Glad also builds odor protection into the lid and frame and finishes the steel to resist fingerprints — in a kitchen where the can sits in plain view, both count for more than another gadget.

The brushed finish looks like the appliances, and at 17.6 pounds empty the can stays put when you press the pedal rather than sliding on tile. This is a volume pick: it is built to be seen and filled, not tucked away under a counter.

This is the can you buy when you want brushed steel and a foot pedal without paying premium-can money. It is the least expensive steel can on this page, and at a glance — 13.2 gallons, a smudge-resistant finish, a lid that closes on its own — it reads like the ones that cost a good deal more.

The removable inner bucket is the part we ended up valuing most. You lift it out by the handle, bag it on the counter, and drop it back, which is easier on your back than wrestling a liner over a rim in place. Standard 13-gallon bags fit, and at 12.4 pounds the whole can is light enough to shift one-handed while you sweep under it.

The lid is the part to watch. The soft-close damper is what makes this can feel expensive, and it is also what quits; when it does, the lid comes down with a slam on every press of the pedal, and the bang is the sound of the mechanism, not the bag. Nothing else about the can stops working when that happens.

We still recommend it, because the failure is annoying rather than disabling — the pedal opens the lid and the lid still keeps the smell in. If a quiet close is something you'll notice every single day, spend up. If you want steel, a standard bag size, and capacity for the least money here, this is the one.

Bag day is what separates this can from the other 20-gallon pick here. Instead of dragging a heavy liner past a set of metal rings, you lift the whole plastic bucket out by its handles, bag it, and set it back; a hole in the bucket keeps the liner hidden under the lid. We prefer it for that alone in a house where the bag comes out full and heavy.

The rest is a straightforward steel step can: a soft-close lid, a wide pedal, and a lid you can also lift by hand when you're clearing a shelf of the fridge. Twenty gallons (75 liters) suits a big household, and the stainless wipes clean without streaks. It is 22 pounds empty, heavy enough that you want it where you want it before it's full.

Against the Glad, this one trades the lined bag compartment and the odor-treated lid for the lift-out bucket, and it is the wider of the two at 19.5 inches. If the bucket is what you came for, neither point changes the answer.

No pedal, no damper, no batteries, no hinge: the lid on this one just swings. That is the appeal. There is nothing on the Highboy for a kid to stomp loose or a year of kitchen traffic to wear out, and nothing to replace.

Twenty-three gallons is more capacity than anything else here, in a body that is only 10.86 inches wide — a tall, narrow column that fits between appliances or in a garage corner, with a dustpan edge along the bottom so you can sweep straight into it. We like that combination for recycling and for kitchens where the can gets kicked more than it gets admired.

At 30 inches it stands at counter height, which is what makes the sweep-in edge useful, and the pass-through handles plus the bottom groove let you carry it out full. At six pounds empty, it is also the pick here you can hose down in the driveway without worrying what gets wet.

This isn't a freestanding kitchen can; it is the bin that lives inside the cabinet. At 14.6 by 10.6 by 17.9 inches it drops into a sink base or a pull-out drawer, holds 9 gallons, and lifts out by the rim when you need to empty it.

The resin body won't rust, dent, or crack the way thin steel does, the interior is smooth enough to wipe out with a cloth, and the reinforced rims keep the sides from bowing when it is full. A standard 13-gallon bag fits over the rim with room to spare.

What it asks of you is close to nothing: wipe it out, drop in a bag, done. As a recycling bin under the sink or a scraps bin beside the cutting board, we think it is the easiest small purchase in this guide.