The best compost bins of 2024 for reducing food waste

Pros: Composts almost anything, fairly odor-free, drain for "compost tea"

Cons: Bokashi replenishment isn't free, "tea" requires draining every few days

If you want a compost bin that you won't have to take out and empty every day, won't stink to high heaven and will get compost tea going for your precious garden within a few days, we haven't found a more practical solution than the SCD Probiotics Compost Bin. You'll still need something called bokashi bran to help initiate the process (it also comes included). 

The bin works on the principle of bokashi composting, which uses anaerobic bacteria to jump start the composting process without the use of oxygen (and the invitation to fruit flies), right under your kitchen sink. Bokashi bran is a mixture of molasses, bran (any organic grain, dried grass, leaves, or sawdust), and EM-1 (a microbial inoculant). You can culture the active bacteria, Lactobacillus, at home, but that's too involved for most of us (this reporter included).

The beauty of this method is that you can put almost anything from your kitchen into the bin, save for larger bones, moldy or rotten matter, liquids, and crustacean shells. The key is layering a healthy handful of bokashi bran on top and tamping it down. (There's an included perforated lid for doing just this.)

You will have to drain the "compost tea," or the liquid that filters down into the bottom of the bucket, every two or three days. Diluted with water (the brand calls for one tablespoon of tea to one gallon of water), pour the tea directly into your garden and potted plants.

Pros: Seals well, removable liner, two sizes

Cons: No charcoal filter (though it's debatable how well those work)

If you're looking for something you can easily and conveniently place on your kitchen counter without mess or fuss, we like OXO's Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin. It has a tight-sealing lid that keeps smells in and critters out as well as any bin we tested, save for SCD's Probiotics'.

Whether you're storing compost for the garden or city- or town-wide collection, this is the most practical choice. We considered charcoal-filtered models against it but found that those started to reek first, and the snug lid of the OXO does the best job of containing smells.

There's not to worry about with a basic compost bin like this. Just about any bucket with a sealing lid will do just as well, but the OXO is nondescript and easy to clean.

As with any bin, you'll want to avoid adding moldy items, liquid, animal products, and bones. This will keep smells at a minimum, but it will also allow the stuff to turn into usable compost, rather than something bordering on putrid, acidic sludge. Keeping sawdust or lime (the mineral) on hand will also help keep smells at bay.

This bin comes in two sizes, 0.75-gallon and 1.75-gallons. For compost storage, you'll probably still want to keep a larger bin (the experts we spoke with recommend five- or 10-gallon sealable buckets). Another thing that will help keep transportation tidy is a roll of compostable bags for containing the mess and keeping cleanup at a minimum.

Pros: Inconspicuous, stylish, lid comes with replaceable charcoal filter

Cons: Fruit flies can still get through, smells within two days if you don't empty it

We can appreciate that some people might not want to have an obvious bucket of decomposing food sitting beside or beneath their kitchen sink, especially when guests come over. The Bamboozle Portable Compost Bin cleverly disguises its internal contents with a nice design and is available in many colors.

While the SCD Probiotics' bin is probably the most scent-concealing option and OXO's is right behind it, they both are easily identifiable as compost bins. This one will start to smell sooner, but remember that you want to be emptying your aerobic compost bins daily anyway. 

This is also the most durable compost bin we've tested. Plastic buckets are fine, but they do wear and degrade and may eventually crack. We can't see that happening with this one and are confident in saying it will last the longest.

Bamboozle's Compost Bin is made entirely from bamboo, so it's also almost biodegradable itself, save for the paint and screws. 

We spoke with Rick Carr, Farm Director at Rodale Institute in Kutztown, PA, and Dr. Paul Voroney, Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, in order to learn the finer points of composting.

In suburban and rural settings, a composting station is often a more realistic option. You'll still want a small kitchen bin (up to a couple of gallons) and a larger five- or 10-gallon bucket just outside, but a production station becomes necessary for processing and generating fertile soil. There are several ways of doing this, from a hole in the ground to a worm bin.

It also depends on what you're going to be composting. Some of us don't have the space reasonable for composting raw animal products, bones, and other things that get a little too gross for comfort. It can be done, though. "In my house, we compost anything that can be composted," says Carr.

We tested five bins in our home and measured their effectiveness based on various criteria. We have recommendations depending on how much compost you want to store within your kitchen and how involved you want to get in the process. Michelle Ullman contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

When it came time to do our testing, we gathered five compost bins and filled each with a mixture of plant, meat, and fish scraps, separating layers with shredded paper and leaving them in the kitchen for a few days to see how bad the smell got. Within two days, all of the bins began to emit a rotten fish smell, and fruit flies were rampant throughout the kitchen. This was more or less expected.

We then kept meat and fish out of the equation and took note of which bins seemed to gather fruit flies. We were only able to isolate two that didn't: the Oxo Good Grips Easy-Clean and the SCD Probiotics.

While bins with compost filters might have helped keep odors at bay, there was no shortage of fruit flies finding their way in and out. While we still recommend a charcoal filter option, keep in mind that there's a good chance you'll still end up with fruit flies.

We found that the best way to eliminate fruit flies was through anaerobic composting with bokashi, which is the process of using anaerobic bacteria to jump-start the composting process.

What we considered along the way:

Smell: We put everything that is compostable into each bin to see if any of the bins managed to conceal the most putrid smells, but as expected, things got utterly foul by day two. When we conducted a second round of tests without any animal byproducts (save for eggshells), the smells were much less effusive, but the bins that did best were the ones without vents.

Size: For a compost bin to do its job within a kitchen, it has to fit on the counter or underneath the kitchen sink. For this reason, we didn't test anything too small (less than one-half of a gallon) or too large (larger than five gallons). Whether you're looking for something for your countertop or beneath your sink, all of our picks will fit the bill in that regard.

Cleanliness: Because no one wants to find themselves elbow-deep in rot, a compost bin needs to be easy to clean. All the bins we tested were relatively easy to clean, but some were easier. Many come with removable liners, and while that makes cleaning a little more convenient, it didn't end up being a dealbreaker. If you use compostable paper bags as liners, they'll be nearly as effective.

Can I DIY my compost bin?

A DIY compost bin is extremely easy, and you can build any kind of bin you'd like. The main question is whether or not you want to put in the time and keep your kitchen looking sleek. There are plenty of ways to make one that involves everything from a simple plastic bucket to building in a drain for the bokashi method. (Planet Natural has a great guide to the latter.)

How do I keep pests away?

The best way to keep pests away from your compost bin (and your home) is to keep things immaculately clean. The best and most important thing is to take your compost out daily. 

An anaerobic composting bin is completely self-contained, so as long as you keep it tightly sealed, you won't have any problems with pests. If you're using a bin with vents (for aerobic composting), consider keeping it in the freezer if you have room. 

To keep his compost from getting too offensive, Rick Carr of the Rodale Institute uses what he calls lasagna layering. Each time he puts in a new layer of food, he also adds leaves, straw, sawdust, or wood chips. "Keep food from showing [on the top layer]," he said, and you'll "avoid odors, flies, rodents, and other pests."

How do I maintain my compost bin and make good compost?

Maintaining good compost is about balancing wet and dry material with acidic and alkaline material. This becomes much more important in your outdoor compost heap, but if you're keeping a bokashi bin, you'll want to keep an eye on things.  

If your compost gets too wet, put some dried leaves or organic paper into the mix. If it dries out, some wetter stuff, or even liquid bokashi bran, will help. Likewise, if you find it starts smelling like a volatile organic compound, like vinegar, that means it's getting too acidic, and you want to add something basic, like dried leaves, to neutralize it.

What can I put in my compost bin?

Unless you're producing anaerobic compost using the bokashi method, you'll want to keep things like animal byproducts, liquids (dairy especially), bones and shells, fats, and oils out. Almost everything else that comes from your kitchen is fair game. Just remember, balance (between wet and dry and acidic and basic) is key if you're doing the composting yourself and not transporting the waste to a community garden or city composting site.

What's the difference between composting and bokashi?

Bokashi is a method of creating pre-compost via anaerobic bacteria. It requires its own unique materials. You can read more about bokashi and how to do it in our guide to bokashi composting. 

Aerobic composting: Composting using oxygen to allow for decomposition.

Anaerobic composting: Composting without oxygen using bacteria that don't require oxygen.

Biodegradability: The degree to which an organic compound can be broken down.

Bokashi: A Japanese method of pre-composting using bran (anything from sawdust to dried leaves or wheat) soaked in molasses and microbes that encourage anaerobic bacteria. This process is anaerobic, so it can be performed in a sealed environment and does not effuse smell.

Compost tea: Leachate or liquid from compost that can be used as fertilizer (when diluted).

Contaminant: Anything that doesn't belong in compost and will compromise it.