The 10 Best Kitchen Trash Cans
to Buy in 2026

How to Choose the Right Kitchen Trash Can in 2026

Trash cans look identical in thumbnail photos, which is why so many people end up with a $90 sensor can collecting dust in the garage. These are the four things that actually separate a can you will love from one that frustrates you daily.

Touchless vs Foot Pedal vs Manual

The lid is the part you interact with dozens of times a day, so this choice matters more than the price. Touchless sensor cans like the EKO Mirage-T 50L are great when your hands are messy from raw meat or dough but they need batteries or a charge and the sensor eventually fails. A cheap sensor can like the BestOffice 13-gallon works fine for a year or two, just do not expect five.

Foot pedals are the quiet workhorses. The Glad 13-gallon has zero electronics to fail and a hinge that still opens smoothly after five years of daily use. The downside is that the lid can slam if the damper wears out, which is why soft-close models like the SONGMICS 13-gallon and the Amazon Basics 50L are worth the extra $20. Manual (push-lid) cans are cheapest but you touch the lid with your fingers every time, which defeats a lot of the point of having a lid at all.

Capacity: Match It to Your Household

For a kitchen, 13 gallons (about 50 liters) is the standard for a reason. It fits the bags sold at every grocery store and it holds roughly three days of trash for a family of four. Go bigger than 13 gallons and you will be dragging a 25-pound bag out to the curb. Go smaller and you will empty it every single day, which is exactly why the UUJOLY 1.8-gallon belongs in a home office or under a desk, not next to the stove.

If your kitchen is tight, a slim can like the TIPGO Slim or the TIPGO 10L Pop-Up tucks between the fridge and a cabinet where a round can will not fit. Two-packs like the KOEYLE 2.2-gallon 2-pack are useful for setting up a dedicated recycling bin next to your trash without buying two different cans.

Stainless vs Plastic Build

Stainless steel costs more up front but it pays off over time. It does not absorb odors, it does not crack around the hinge, and a good one looks new after five years. The catch is fingerprints. Skip glossy chrome finishes unless you enjoy wiping smudges off daily, fingerprint-resistant stainless like on the SONGMICS and the EKO Mirage is the right move in any kitchen with kids.

Plastic cans are lighter and cheaper and they will not dent if you kick them. The problem is that plastic absorbs smells permanently. After about 18 months of daily use, a plastic kitchen can starts smelling faintly of old garbage no matter how often you clean it. That is fine for a 1.8-gallon desk can like the UUJOLY but it is not what you want in a 13-gallon kitchen can you plan to keep for a decade.

Odor Control, Bag Liners, and Cleaning

The smell problem has two causes: the bag itself and the can body. For the bag, buy actual kitchen drawstring bags sized for 13 gallons, the ones with a tight elastic top that will not slide down inside the can. Scented bags help but they do not fix a cheap bag that leaks. For the can, pick one with an inner bucket or bag retainer ring, like the ELPHECO 2-gallon, which holds the bag flush against the rim and hides it from view.

Cleaning is simple: once every two weeks, pull the inner bucket out, hose it or rinse it in the tub, and wipe it down with hot soapy water. A dryer sheet or a spoonful of baking soda under the liner kills 80 percent of odors between cleanings. If your can already stinks and a deep clean does not fix it, the plastic has absorbed the smell and there is no saving it, that is when stainless becomes the answer. Cans with IPX5 water resistance like the ELPHECO can be rinsed directly without worrying about shorting out the sensor.