The Best Kitchen Garbage Can

Your kitchen may be organized — there’s a place for everything — but a gross old plastic trash can is just going to make it look not-put-together.

Whether you’re looking for something that will help you in that hellscape or something that won’t ugly up your beautiful space, there is a trash can here for you.

Simplehuman 45 Liter / 12 Gallon Stainless Steel Semi-Round Sensor Can

I know! $150 is a lot of money for a trash can. But hear me out. When you’re cooking and have to throw something away, do you touch the trash can lid? Really? Isn’t that the same lid someone else touched when they were cleaning the litter box? Ew!

Not this one. Just wave your hand over the sensor and the lid opens. And it doesn’t snap open, either. It glides elegantly open because this trash can has some serious engineering built into it: Infrared sensors, a planetary gear system, stainless steal. This is the trash can you buy when you are staying put for a while. It’s the one you fight over in the divorce. It’s the one you move with you when you buy a bigger house. It’s a keeper.

Simplehuman 58 Liter / 15.3 Gallon Stainless Steel Rectangular Kitchen Step Can Dual Compartment Recycler

How much recycling is accumulating in your kitchen right now? It’s bad, right? And it it all out in the open because, even worse than with trash, no one planned for it.

Time for a trash solution that handles more than trash? This lovely Stainless Steel Rectangular Kitchen Step Can Dual Compartment Recycler will fix that.

It knows you don’t only throw away trash. You also have recycling. In fact, you often have more recycling than trash. So stashing it in a paper bag next to the front door is just not working anymore.

Everything goes in here. And it stays in. You can step on the foot pedal to open the can when you want to put something else in there. So it’s a no-touch lid. But that’s a solid, engineered, functional step lid opener.

It comes in great colors that will look awesome in your kitchen.

Simplehuman 30 Liter / 8 Gallon Under Counter Kitchen Pull-Out Trash Can

No one wants to look at the trash can, no matter how slick and expensive it is, right? Or maybe there just isn’t any floor space for it. This is, seriously, a major flaw in kitchen design.

Got a cupboard you can spare? Especially if that cupboard is under the sink? Install this in there and your trash can will be handy but not so handy that you can see it.

This one will keep the dog out. It’s easy to empty. It’s easy to put trash into. And it’s invisible. It’s also not sporting an insane price tag.

Sign us up for this one.

Simplehuman 10 Liter / 2.6 Gallon In-Cabinet Trash Can

In your great wisdom, when setting up your kitchen, you decided that the closet on the other end of the room was the best place for the trash can. No one wants the trash near the food, you reasoned. And there was room way over there.

And now, when you cook, you make nine thousand trips across the room to throw things away.

Here’s your solution: Install this little guy just inside the door of the under-sink cabinet. Now you can throw those little things away as you cook and carry the entire bag to the trash when you clean up.

Umbra Venti 16-Gallon Swing Top Kitchen Trash Can

You are — seriously — not having any of this nearly $200 receptacles for trash. You didn’t earn that cabbage to throw it away — literally! — right? This — [right here](Umbra Venti 16-Gallon Swing Top Kitchen Trash Can](https://www.amazon.com/Umbra-Venti-16-Gallon-Swing-Kitchen/dp/B004U4XDY2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ascsub&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.a5db88e0-1a90-4942-83ae-9fffebed614d&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&keywords=trash+can&pd_rd_i=B004U4XDY2&pd_rd_r=b7c0c258-7f75-4831-8201-933ca4b90fe1&pd_rd_w=QR5TU&pd_rd_wg=Vo8cA&pf_rd_p=53eff971-6e12-4016-9864-b6dfd929b2b3&pf_rd_r=HK7PEBX10PW8ZBG9B45G&qid=1570658119&rnid=1063498&s=home-garden&linkCode=ll1&tag=inverse-60011-20&linkId=81ed0ad6fcdcc6d99a5d27e935137472&language=en_US) — is your trash can.

Sure, it’s plastic. No it doesn’t have any IR sensors. There is nothing to install. It just stands there, ready to take all the trash you want to throw at it. But it’s functional. The lid swings so a light tap opens it to put the trash in. The lid system keeps the bag in place until you want to empty it. And then it is surprisingly frustration free.

When you are permanently settled, win the lottery, or have lots of disposable income (yes, I did just do that), you can get one of those fancy trash cans. Until then? This one.