13 Best Countertop Compost Bins for Your Kitchen
Composting food scraps in your home is a great way to cut down on landfill waste and upcycle peels, cores and seeds into nutrients for your garden. These countertop compost bins keep it all smell-free and mess-free.
Composting household food waste can help cut down on greenhouse emissions that contribute to climate change by reducing what's sent to landfills. There can be a learning curve to building the habit if you've never composted before, but getting a countertop bin for collecting food scraps and other compostable materials, like napkins and paper towels, can help. We've collected a handful of kitchen-friendly containers specifically intended for composting and food scraps, including a couple that you can use to create your own compost.
Never composted before and not sure where to get started, or live in an apartment and don't know if it's possible for you to do it at home? Check out our tips for getting started.
Great for anyone with limited counter space, this odor-minimizing stainless steel compost caddy from simplehuman attaches to a magnetic dock that hangs at the side of a rectangular or slim liner rim trash can. You can detach it for use on your kitchen counter, too. The soft-seal lid allows food scraps to breathe, keeping odor under control and pests away. The plastic inner bucket is removable, so it's easy to dump out scraps or clean. The caddy's surface is protected by an invisible fingerprint-proof coating that is also infused with Agion®, an EPA-registered antimicrobial that inhibits the growth of bacteria, fungi, mold and mildew. A 30-pack of Code Z custom-fit compostable liners comes with the bin — the liners fit the caddy perfectly and can be thrown out along with your food scraps since they decompose fully.
You can fill this attractive compost container with up to two quarts of food waste. The metal bin comes with a plastic liner you can dump into your outdoor compost, so you can nix the need for bags and easily rinse it out to keep it clean and smell-free.
A replaceable charcoal filter is underneath the lid of this cute EcoCrock bin; holes provide airflow to help materials break down faster. Made of white ceramic on the outside, there's a green plastic bucket on the inside. Use the stainless steel handle on the inner bucket when you're ready to dump it. The bin holds about 3.5 quarts and comes with two filters.
This stainless steel bin from Norpro measures 11.5 inches tall and holds up to 1.5 gallons of coffee grounds, eggshells, green trimmings, and fruit and vegetable peels. The lid contains a disposable charcoal filter that prevents odors for up to six months, depending on the heat and humidity in your kitchen.
This five-gallon compost system is intended to ferment food waste underneath your kitchen sink without the odors, which you can then bury in your garden a few days later. Each bucket, made from 75-percent recycled plastic, comes with a bag of Bokashi compost starter. Ideally, you'd buy two containers, so you can fill one up while the other is fermenting untouched for 10 days once full.
How to Make an Attractive Compost Bin for Your Kitchen
Turn the kitchen scrap bin into a conversation piece instead of an eyesore.
This is probably not what you'd picture when hearing the words "worm farm," but this sleek container made from recycled plastic and cork not only holds food scraps; it's also designed to make the ideal living situation for a family of worms (who aren't included) so you can easily create your own compost at home. Uncommon Goods claims it's odorless, which should help with the initial "yuck" factor of housing a worm farm in your house.
For a high-tech option that not only stores food waste but breaks it down as well, try Lomi, an innovative countertop composter that turns food waste into dirt for your houseplants or garden overnight. Lomi is easy to use — just fill up the bucket with food scraps, push the button and you’ll have dirt in 12 hours or less! Lomi helps you reduce your kitchen waste by 50 percent, is quieter and uses less energy than a dishwasher, neutralizes garbage smells and prevents "bin sludge" from forming. Read our full review to learn why this game-changing composter is worth the splurge.
This Countertop Home Composter Is a Game Changer
The innovative technology in Lomi lets you create garden compost almost overnight. Find out what one HGTV editor thought of the device.