Steel, Plastic or Vented? The Best Countertop Compost Bin

Make a batch of guacamole and pico de gallo and the cutting board is covered in avocado skins and pits, onion ends, tomato cores, cilantro stems and lime halves. Add a morning pot of coffee and the eggshells from breakfast tacos, and that is a full container of scraps before lunch. A countertop compost bin is where all of that waits until it goes out to the pile or the city’s collection cart.

This guide covers eight countertop compost bins in stainless steel, plastic and plant-based material, with and without charcoal filters, from a 1-gallon caddy to a 7-liter bin that hangs on a cabinet door. We used America’s Test Kitchen’s compost bin review, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s home composting guidance, and the makers’ specifications and Amazon listings.

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Quick verdict: which countertop compost bin to buy

A compost bin handles the scraps; for everything else that leaves the kitchen, see our guide to food storage containers for the leftovers worth keeping.

Five countertop compost bins compared

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of kitchen, with capacity, material and filter as each maker or listing states them. All eight bins are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Capacities, materials and care instructions are as each maker or listing states them; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best countertop compost bin

These eight cover the real choices: steel or plastic, filter or no filter, a sealed lid or a vented one, a bin that sits on the counter, one that hangs on a cabinet door and one that docks to a trash can. Each pick explains who it suits and gives one honest reason to skip it.

A note on electric countertop “composters”

Machines such as the Vitamix FoodCycler line and Lomi are often sold next to compost bins, but they work differently. Breville, which sells a FoodCycler model in Australia, describes a “3-stage cycle” that “dehydrates, grinds and cools down your food waste” over an average of four to six hours, reducing volume by over 80 percent into what it calls EcoChips, which it suggests mixing into the topsoil of plants. Lomi’s maker says its process starts by grinding and calls the result “soil-like dirt,” to be mixed with soil at about one part to ten or added to an existing compost pile.

In other words, these appliances dry and grind scraps in hours; they do not do the weeks-long work of a compost pile, and they need electricity and replacement filters. They make sense if you have no pile and no city collection, but they are not a compost bin and we have not included them in our picks. If you want one, the Food Cycler Eco 5 is sold on Amazon; we did not find Lomi listed there.

How to choose a countertop compost bin for a cooking kitchen

Know what can go in

The EPA’s home composting guidance lists fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and paper filters, paper tea bags and crushed eggshells as compostable “greens.” In a Mexican kitchen that covers most of the prep waste: onion skins, cilantro stems, tomato cores, chile stems and seeds, lime rinds, avocado skins and pits, and the morning’s coffee. Dried corn husks left over from tamales are dry plant material, closer to the “browns” on the EPA’s list, such as dry leaves and plant stalks.

Know what stays out

The EPA says to keep meat, fish and bones, cheese and dairy, and fats, oils and grease out of a backyard pile, because they attract animals and home piles generally do not get hot enough to break them down. Cooked food should go in only in small amounts. That means carnitas trimmings, queso, crema and the fat from the pot go in the trash, and leftover rice, beans or tortillas only in small quantities. The EPA also says compostable bags and foodservice ware should not go in a backyard pile; commercial facilities may take them, but check first.

Filter or no filter

Charcoal filters are the most advertised feature, but America’s Test Kitchen found that “models with filters didn’t contain smells any better than models without filters,” and that most makers recommend replacing them every two to three months. A lid that fits well and an easy-to-wash interior mattered more in its tests. Loose lids, ATK wrote, “felt like open invitations for fruit flies.”

Size it to how often you empty it

A bin that holds a week of scraps will smell by the end of the week in a warm kitchen. ATK found the OXO held up to five days of scraps for two people. If mold grows regularly, ATK’s advice is simply to empty the bin more often. For a big cooking day, a larger bin like the EKO, or a second bin, is better than overfilling.

Handle, lid and cleaning

Look for a handle that is fixed firmly to the bin, a lid that stays open while you scrape the board and closes snugly, and a smooth interior without slits or gaps where coffee grounds and pulp collect. Dishwasher-safe bins save the most work. The EPA also suggests storing scraps in a closed container on the counter, under the sink, or in the refrigerator or freezer; ATK notes that the freezer eliminates fruit flies entirely.

Where the scraps go next

A countertop bin is only the first step. The EPA recommends adding at least two to three times as much brown material, like dry leaves, as food scraps to a home pile, and keeping food scraps covered by four to eight inches of browns. If you do not have a pile, check whether your city collects food scraps.

How we chose these eight compost bins

We started with America’s Test Kitchen’s countertop compost bin review, which named the OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean its winner and tested the Bamboozle, simplehuman, Joseph Joseph and Full Circle bins. We then added steel and larger bins from established makers, took every specification from the maker or the Amazon listing, and wrote “not stated” where they were silent. Composting rules come from the EPA. Every pick was in stock on Amazon when we checked.

ATK’s large-household pick, the Exaco Eco 2000 kitchen compost pail, was out of stock on Amazon when we looked, and we did not find its stainless pick from Package Free there, so neither is included. We have not used these bins ourselves, and we could not access Wirecutter’s compost bin guide, so we do not quote it.

Countertop compost bin questions, answered

What is the best countertop compost bin according to reviewers?

America’s Test Kitchen’s winner is the OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin (1.75 gallons), which it found easy to clean, good at containing odors and sturdy. We could not read Wirecutter’s guide, so we cannot say what it recommends.

Do charcoal filters stop compost bin smells?

Not much, according to ATK, which found bins with filters held smells no better than bins without. Emptying the bin every few days and keeping liquid down make the biggest difference.

Can avocado pits and corn husks go in a compost bin?

Fruit and vegetable scraps are on the EPA’s list of compostable greens, which covers avocado skins and pits, and dried corn husks are dry plant material like the browns on the same list. Meat, dairy and grease are not, according to the EPA.

Is a stainless steel or plastic compost bin better?

Steel looks tidy on a counter and resists rust, according to its makers, but most steel bins here are hand-wash. ATK’s winner and the dishwasher-safe Bamboozle are not steel. Choose by how you will clean it.

Are electric kitchen composters worth it?

They solve a different problem. Electric units like the FoodCycler dehydrate and grind scraps in hours, according to their makers, rather than composting them. They suit kitchens with no compost pile or city collection.

Our final pick for kitchen scraps

Buy the OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin for everyday prep scraps. Choose the Epica for a steel pail with a filter, the Bamboozle to wash it in the dishwasher, the simplehuman caddy if you own a simplehuman can, and the EKO for big cooking days.

More for the sink and counter: dish racks, sink caddies, soap dispensers, paper towel holders, utensil holders, trash cans, Swedish dishcloths.

Want to shrink scraps indoors? See our guide to the best indoor compost bins and food-waste machines.

Related guide: Best compost bags.

The avocado scraps start with the guacamole; our guide to Mexican herbs covers the cilantro and epazote whose stems end up in the bin, and our guide to tamales explains where all those husks come from. Or skip the prep and the scraps: see our menu and call to order.