Kitchen Compost Bin, White Stainless-Steel Large, 3.6 Gallon, Indoor Odorless Composting, Hands-Free, Washable Parts, Includes 8 Tear-Off Compostable Bags and 4 Carbon Filters

I was a bit concerned about this being too big, but I was wrong. It's incredible how much food waste accumulates in a week. Apple cores, grape vines, melon rind, avocado pits, chicken bones, egg shells, coffee grounds...well you get the idea. Originally, when my garbage company informed me that I needed to begin separating compostable items and combining them with green waste, I panicked. How would I store all the compostable materials until garbage day? There isn't enough room in the fridge to store it, and in the freezer I would forget about it. I didn't want it on the counter either, gross! It would stink, right? Ugh. And with the wildlife in the area, would it attract them to the bins? Do bears even like onions? I never had to worry about that as our garbage was in bags!!! Now I imagined the green waste bin full of leaves and compostable items, cooking in the sun (stinky) and attracting raccoons and bears to enjoy our leftovers. Then I stumbled across this Genie compost bin. It's perfect and is a welcome addition to the kitchen. You may be surprised once you start to use it and appreciate the capacity. As I noted above, once you start thinking about how much food waste you have, you'll see that the size is ideal. There are several features I like: 1. the step to open feature, hands free access so you don't need to touch it to open. 2. There is a slot on the underside of the lid for a filter - even with onions and several days of fermenting, it contains the stink well. 3. Easy to replace the bag after you empty it - if you use the branded bags! Bonus, the bags are compost friendly. 4. The top that covers the bag anchors is easily removable when you need to wash it. So glad I found this! If I could make improvements, I would have loved for this to be available in all stainless steel and to have rubber feet so it's less prone to movement.

I’ve been using the Compost Genie floor-standing model for a few weeks now, and it’s a game-changer for kitchen composting. The hands-free pedal makes it super convenient when your hands are full, and the carbon filter holder really helps keep smells under control. What I like most is the bag system—it keeps food scraps from touching the bin walls, so there’s way less moisture buildup (and no gross cleanup). The airflow design seems to make a big difference too. The size is perfect for a busy household, and the build feels sturdy without taking up too much space. If you’ve struggled with odors, bugs, or messy bins, this is worth considering. It’s not the cheapest option, but the functionality and cleanliness make it well worth it.

This product is okay and in some ways it’s quite good. Solidly constructed, simple, à reasonable size and easy to clean. Unfortunately I was comparing it to a Diaper Genie which seals the contents tight, no odors escape and it is easy to tie off the old bag and start a new one. It turns out this product just capitalizes on the name, but it is nowhere near as robust as a diaper genie. It’s really just a larger compost bag than the one I was using previously. I was a bit disappointed, but my expectations were high.

I really wanted to like this compost bin, or rather my wife really wanted me to like it, since she hates the simple plastic container under the counter I've been using for years - she says it stinks. But this product's design is horrible. I gave it several tries, thinking I was perhaps doing something wrong, like overfilling it. They claim it holds 3.6 gallons, up to 15 pounds of compost, but that is certainly not the case. When the bag gets a little full it bulges, and when you try to lift it out it rips open, dumping the compost into the bottom, and filling the "juice" tray. When that happens it also spills juice all over the rest of the bag roll in the bottom, ruining them - this happened to me twice. To make matters worse, you have to drag it outside, dump the spilled compost and THEN you have to reach down inside, grab the juice tray and lift it up. This is where I came to really HATE the product designer - the juice tray won't lift through the top hole, you have to tilt it to get it out, so guess what, it dumps juice all over the inside (and I learned this the hard way the first time, in my kitchen!). Once you get it out you have to disassemble the top and dump what little juice remains in the tray. At which point you're lucky if you haven't vomited. Now, I admit the first time I probably waited too long to empty the bag, having assumed their claims were accurate. So, the second time I was careful to (try to) empty it after just a week, when I didn't think it was overfull. As I lifted the bag through the undersized opening the side ripped out, dumping the contents all inside. And of course I left a trail of juice from the kitchen out the front door as I took it outside to clean up the mess. I hosed it off and left it on the back porch to air out, went back to my good old plastic container with a lid. I tried to return it, after about 6 weeks, but the Amazon site referred me to Compost Genie, who pointed me back to Amazon, so I'm in a do-loop at the moment, and none too happy. Do yourself a favor, avoid this product at all cost. The product designer needs to actually have to live with it, and clean up the mess he/she creates.

Because of the design at the top which comes inward, every time you need to take out a full or even half full garbage bag, you are fighting to get the bag out without tearing it. Further when leaks happen, and they will, pulling out the leak catcher on the bottom has to happen at an angle and it is likely to leak into the can itself. You can't take apart the can to clean the inside. You can hose it down though and let it dry out which is what we recently did, but it's a pain. Love the look of this, but we're thinking of abandoning this for a regular bin again.