The Best Compost Bins in Australia

Vegetable peelings are piling up beside the chopping board, and you need somewhere convenient to put them until you take them outside. Among the best compost bins here, we’d buy the OXO Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin for most kitchens: its generous capacity and straightforward emptying make it a sensible choice without paying for the dearest caddy.

These are kitchen scrap collectors. You’ll still need somewhere to transfer the contents, such as an outdoor composter or an accepted food-waste collection service.

The short answer

The best compost bins in Australia

• Best for everyday food preparation: OXO Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin
• Best for small kitchens with a compatible bin: simplehuman Compost Caddy
• Best for keeping liners close by: Joseph Joseph Collect
• Best for a tight budget: EPICA Countertop Compost Bin
• Best for busy kitchens: Full Circle Fresh Air
• Best for keeping liners in place: Joseph Joseph Stack
• Best for regular trips to an outdoor composter: Brabantia Sort & Go

Product		Price
	OXO Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin (13273400)	from $49.95 at Amazon	$49.95 at Amazon
	simplehuman Compost Caddy, 4L (CW1645)	from $90.00 at Amazon	$90.00 at Amazon
	Joseph Joseph Collect™ 4L Stainless-steel Food Waste Caddy, 30145	from $59.97 at Amazon	$59.97 at Amazon
	EPICA Countertop Compost Bin, 1.3 Gallon (EB83023)	from $56.31 at Amazon	$56.31 at Amazon
	Full Circle Fresh Air Odor-Free Kitchen Compost Bin, 5.7L (FC11301-GYDTC)	from $68.82 at Amazon	$68.82 at Amazon
	Joseph Joseph Stack 4L Food Waste Caddy (30015)	from $55.96 at Amazon	$55.96 at Amazon
	Brabantia Sort & Go Waste Bin, 6L (109720)	from $60.31 at Amazon	$60.31 at Amazon

1. Best for everyday food preparation: OXO Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin

When you cook regularly, a scrap bin needs to be easy to empty and clean or it becomes another chore. The OXO Good Grips Easy Clean is our first choice for that routine.

The 6.62-litre capacity gives you room for the scraps from a substantial food-preparation session. OXO’s smooth-wall design should also make the clean-up less awkward, while the removable lid lets you get it out of the way when emptying.

Good Housekeeping recommends it for good value, generous capacity, easy cleaning and a stay-open lid that simplifies collecting cooking scraps. That’s a useful combination for a bin you’ll reach for while cooking.

Our take is that convenience earns the extra money over the EPICA below. If your priority is the lowest purchase price, though, the EPICA deserves a look.

Our verdict: Buy the OXO if easy filling, emptying and cleaning matter more than getting the cheapest caddy. It’s our most straightforward recommendation for everyday cooking.

2. Best for small kitchens with a compatible bin: simplehuman Compost Caddy

A small kitchen compost bin is useful only if you’ve got somewhere to keep it. The simplehuman Compost Caddy offers a way to free up bench space by docking beside a compatible rubbish bin.

The mounting system is the reason to pay more here. You can detach the caddy for food preparation, then put it back beside the rubbish bin. The removable bucket also means you can carry the scraps away without taking the outer body with you.

The Kitchn recommends it for small kitchens, highlighting the compact stainless-steel body, removable bucket and magnetic mounting system.

But it’s the dearest pick in this guide, and the dock is designed for a specific bin shape. Our take is that it’s worth the extra only if that mounting arrangement solves your space problem. Confirm docking compatibility before ordering.

Our verdict: Choose the simplehuman if you have a compatible bin and want the caddy off the bench between meals. For ordinary freestanding use, we’d spend less.

3. Best for keeping liners close by: Joseph Joseph Collect

Replacing a full liner is easier when the next one is already beside you. The Joseph Joseph Collect stores its custom-fit liners in the base, making it a good choice if you want that routine kept together.

The removable bucket should make emptying more manageable, and Joseph Joseph says the ventilated filter reduces moisture and odours. Replacement filters are sold separately, so allow for ongoing purchases.

Mumsnet recommends it for its attractive stainless-steel finish, removable bucket and effective odour control, although it found the caddy attracted fruit flies in warm conditions. If flies are already a problem in your kitchen, that drawback would make us hesitate.

Our verdict: Buy the Collect if you like using liners and want a tidy place to store them. We’d skip it if keeping fruit flies away is your main concern.

4. Best for a tight budget: EPICA Countertop Compost Bin

You don’t need to spend heavily to give food scraps a separate home. The EPICA Compost Bin is the cheapest pick here, with a charcoal-filter lid that makes it worth considering beyond price alone.

Bob Vila recommends it for strong odour containment through charcoal filters and durable stainless-steel construction.

Our take is that this is the sensible budget buy if you’re happy to maintain the filter. EPICA says gentle rinsing and air drying can extend its life, but warns against saturating it. EPICA describes cleaning it by hand with warm water.

Our verdict: Choose the EPICA if price comes first and you don’t mind filter upkeep. It’s our budget recommendation without giving up a filtered lid.

5. Best for busy kitchens: Full Circle Fresh Air

When you’re moving between chopping and clearing up, repeatedly opening a scrap bin is an avoidable interruption. The Full Circle Fresh Air has a push-button lid that stays open, which is its strongest reason to buy.

Bob Vila recommends it for busy kitchens needing a larger caddy, with push-button opening and an airflow design that reduces odour build-up.

The dishwasher-safe design is another reason to consider it if washing a scrap bin by hand is the part you’d rather avoid. But it costs more than the OXO and uses compostable bags, so the purchase price isn’t the whole expense.

Our verdict: Buy the Full Circle for its push-button lid and dishwasher-safe cleaning. Those conveniences justify the extra only if you’ll use them.

6. Best for keeping liners in place: Joseph Joseph Stack

A liner that slips into the bin makes clearing scraps unnecessarily awkward. The Joseph Joseph Stack addresses that with a liner-retaining hole inside.

Sustainably Sorted recommends it for its wide opening, ventilated design and replaceable carbon filter that help manage moisture and odours.

We’d choose it specifically for keeping a liner in place. Otherwise, the Collect costs less at our price check and adds a removable bucket and liner storage. The Stack’s replaceable filter also brings ongoing upkeep.

Our verdict: Choose the Stack if slipping liners are the problem you want to solve. For a lift-out bucket and somewhere to keep spare liners, we’d buy the Collect instead.

7. Best for regular trips to an outdoor composter: Brabantia Sort & Go

If you take scraps outside regularly, easy carrying matters more than a long feature list. The Brabantia Sort & Go keeps the focus on lifting, emptying and cleaning.

Mumsnet recommends it for easy carrying, straightforward cleaning and liner-free use when regularly transferring scraps to an outdoor composter.

Our take is that it suits someone who already has that routine. It’s less compelling on price: the OXO costs less and also has a carry handle, so the Brabantia needs to suit your preferred setup to earn the extra spend.

Our verdict: Buy the Sort & Go if you want a simple collector for regular trips outside and prefer to skip liners. We’d choose the cheaper OXO if you’re still deciding on your routine.

How we chose

Our reviews are based on owner ratings where available, independent recommendations, maker specifications, and price and stock checks. We found no independent owner rating at the retailers we check for any of these seven picks, so this ranking favours independently recommended designs that address everyday filling, cleaning and disposal, weighed against price.

Every pick was in stock at Amazon Australia in the supplied check. None was selected on sales rank alone.

Kitchen compost bin buying guide

The supplied offers for all seven picks are from Amazon Australia, the only stockist listed for each. Check the warranty and returns terms before ordering.

If scraps pile up while you cook

Choose enough capacity for your usual food preparation. A larger caddy gives you more room, but don’t treat spare capacity as a reason to leave scraps sitting around. Match the bin to how often you’ll empty it.

If you prepare several ingredients at once, a wide opening or stay-open lid can make collecting the scraps less fiddly.

If your bench is crowded

Decide where the caddy will live before ordering. Capacity doesn’t tell you its footprint, so check the listing dimensions against the space available.

The simplehuman offers compatible side mounting. Check the docking requirements carefully; paying for a mounting system that doesn’t fit your rubbish bin makes little sense.

If odours are the reason you’re replacing your bin

Look at the lid design and maintenance together. A replaceable filter can help manage odours, but it brings another part to care for and replace. Follow the maker’s instructions rather than assuming every filter can be washed the same way.

Regular emptying and cleaning should remain part of the routine, whichever caddy you choose.

If cleaning puts you off collecting scraps

A removable bucket lets you separate the dirty container from its outer body. A removable lid can make access easier, while dishwasher-safe cleaning is worth paying for if that’s how you prefer to clean.

Check the instructions for the exact model before putting any part in the dishwasher.

If you want to avoid buying liners

Look for a bin recommended for liner-free use and plan to rinse it after emptying. If you prefer bags, check their fit and ongoing cost before choosing the caddy.

For council food-waste collection, confirm whether your service accepts liners and which types it allows. A compostable label alone doesn’t settle that.

Kitchen caddies and composting systems

Kitchen caddies collect scraps; composting systems process them. The products reviewed here give scraps somewhere to go while you’re in the kitchen; they’re intended for collection before transfer.

If you want to process waste at home, consider the space and routine needed for an outdoor composter, worm farm or bokashi system separately. An electric food recycler is another category again. Choose the destination for your scraps before buying the kitchen collector.

What to put in a kitchen compost bin

Follow the rules of the system receiving the waste. Fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells are useful starting points to check against its accepted-materials list.

Don’t assume every destination accepts cooked food, meat, fish, dairy, tea bags or compostable packaging. Council collection services and home composting systems can have different requirements. Keep ordinary plastic, glass and metal out of the scraps.

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• The Best Kitchen Bins for Effective Waste Management