The Totem's idea is excellent and its liners are proprietary. If you want the two-stream tower without the IW liner subscription, these are the cans that do it.
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02
The short answer
Buy the simplehuman 58L Step Recycler. It is the closest thing to a Totem in concept - one footprint, two streams, a single pedal - with a build standard that matches it and a far simpler liner situation. The budget pick is the Amazon Basics Dual Compartment Recycling Trash Can, 60 Liters, which gets you the same two-stream layout and a soft-close lid for a fraction of the money. If the kitchen has no floor to spare, the simplehuman 35L Dual Compartment Under-Counter Pull-Out puts both streams inside a cabinet, and the simplehuman 15L Mini Recycler is the small-flat answer.
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Product
Best for
Price
01
simplehuman 58L Step RecyclerThe cleanest answer to trash-plus-recycling in one unit: two compartments behind a single lid and a single pedal.
Amazon Basics Dual Compartment Recycling Trash Can, 60 Liters, Soft-Close Lid, Grey and SilverSixty liters split across two removable liner buckets, with one pedal and a damped lid - the cheapest honest way into dual-stream sorting.
simplehuman 35L Dual Compartment Under-Counter Pull-Out CanThe pull-out that is easiest to install and hardest to break: an all-steel frame on commercial ball-bearing tracks that arrive as one pre-assembled piece.
Three things, taken from Joseph Joseph's own product material:
One tower, two streams plus a caddy. The Totem Max 60 L splits into two 30 L compartments with a 3 L food caddy; the Compact 40 L splits into two 20 L compartments. It is the most space-efficient way to run trash and recycling in a single footprint.
An odor filter in the lid. Joseph Joseph sells activated carbon filter refills for the range, which is what keeps a closed tower from becoming unpleasant.
Its own IW liners. The Totem range is sized around Joseph Joseph's IntelligentWaste liners, sold in 20-packs. That is the recurring cost, and the usual reason people go looking for an alternative.
None of that is a criticism - the Totem is genuinely well designed. But a proprietary liner on a two-compartment can means two liner purchases rather than one, and that is worth knowing before you commit.
04
Who each alternative is for
Pick
Who it is for
Split
Where it goes
simplehuman 58L Step Recycler
The closest match - one pedal, two streams, premium build
58 L across two
Free-standing
Amazon Basics Dual Compartment, 60 L
The budget pick - same layout, soft-close, far less money
60 L across two
Free-standing
simplehuman 35L Dual Under-Counter Pull-Out
A kitchen with no floor space to give up
35 L across two buckets
Inside a cabinet
simplehuman 15L Mini Recycler
A small flat or a worktop-level second stream
15 L across two
Free-standing, small
Compartment splits and capacities are the manufacturers' own published figures.
05
The picks in full
01 — Best dual-compartment overall
simplehuman 58L Step Recycler
The cleanest answer to trash-plus-recycling in one unit: two compartments behind a single lid and a single pedal.
Total capacity
58 liters / 15.3 gallons
Compartments
Two, behind a single lid
Lid
Soft-close, damped
Most dual-compartment cans make you choose which side to open. This one opens both at once, which sounds trivial until you are holding a rinsed can in one hand and a wrapper in the other. The split is asymmetric on some configurations, which is correct — most households generate more recycling than trash, not an even fifty-fifty.
What we'd flag: two compartments means two liners, and the compartments take different liner codes. Read the code letters molded inside before you order bags, or you will buy the wrong size twice.
Sixty liters split across two removable liner buckets, with one pedal and a damped lid - the cheapest honest way into dual-stream sorting.
Capacity
60 liters total, two compartments
Lid
Soft-close
Pedal
Foot lever
Liner buckets
Removable, one per compartment
Finish
Fingerprint-resistant grey and silver
A dual-compartment can is the rare upgrade that makes your trash smaller rather than bigger: pull the dry recycling out of the main stream and what is left is both less bulky and less smelly. Doing that normally costs three figures from the specialists. This does it with removable liner buckets, which is the detail that matters, because the compartment you use for rinsed containers is the one that eventually needs washing out.
What we'd flag: 60 liters split two ways is two 30-liter compartments, so each side holds less than a standard 13-gallon kitchen bag's worth. It is also the most expensive can in the Amazon Basics line and the one with the most moving parts, with the same no-spare-parts problem behind it.
simplehuman 35L Dual Compartment Under-Counter Pull-Out Can
The pull-out that is easiest to install and hardest to break: an all-steel frame on commercial ball-bearing tracks that arrive as one pre-assembled piece.
Most pull-out kits arrive as a bag of brackets and a diagram. This one comes as a single pre-assembled track, which turns a two-hour job into a twenty-minute one and removes the misalignment that causes a pull-out to bind six months later. The tracks are commercial-grade ball-bearing and extend up to three feet, so the back bucket comes fully clear of the cabinet.
What we'd flag: the minimum cabinet opening is 20" high x 10" wide x 20" deep, and plenty of older sink cabinets fail the depth test because of the trap. Measure to the back wall, past the plumbing, before you order.
$120.00 · 1% off · Price as of November 14, 2026. #adHow we make money
04 — Best small dual bin
simplehuman 15L Mini Recycler
A two-compartment bin small enough for a studio kitchen, an office, or a bathroom that needs paper separated out.
Total capacity
15 liters / 4 gallons
Compartments
Two
Apartment kitchens rarely have room for a 58-liter recycler, and the usual fallback — a second loose bin shoved somewhere — is what makes small kitchens look chaotic. Fifteen liters split two ways is genuinely small, but it is sorted, lidded, and matches the rest of the range.
What we'd flag: at roughly 7.5 liters a side you will be emptying the recycling compartment every couple of days. This is a tidiness product, not a capacity one.
Two ordinary cans side by side is still the cheapest answer, and in a wide kitchen it is also the most practical one. The best dual-compartment recycling cans covers both approaches.
A pull-out puts the split behind a door, which is the single best-looking solution and the one that survives a kitchen with children - the best under-sink pull-out trash cans.
Check what your council actually collects first. A three-stream tower in a town with single-stream recycling is a very expensive way to sort rubbish that gets mixed again at the depot.
Odor is a filter problem, not a compartment problem.Trash can carbon filters applies to any of these.
What is the best alternative to a Joseph Joseph Totem?
The simplehuman 58L Step Recycler. It is the closest match in concept - one footprint, two streams, a single pedal - at a comparable build standard with a simpler liner situation.
Is there a cheap Totem alternative?
The Amazon Basics Dual Compartment Recycling Trash Can, 60 liters. It gives you the same two-stream layout and a soft-close lid for a fraction of the price.
Do Totem alternatives need special liners?
The Joseph Joseph range is sized around its own IW liners. The alternatives on this page use standard or coded liners, so you are not tied to one supplier.
Can you get a two-compartment can inside a cabinet?
Yes. The simplehuman 35L dual under-counter pull-out puts both streams behind a cabinet door, which frees the floor entirely.
Is a two-stream can worth it?
Only if your area collects streams separately. In a single-stream area, a tower that sorts rubbish which is remixed at the depot is an expensive habit.
What size dual can do you need?
Around 60 liters total for a family doing weekly recycling; 35 to 40 liters for a couple or a small flat. Compartment split matters more than total volume.
08
Sources
Every specification on this page traces to one of these, checked at the time of writing. Where a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the page says so rather than estimating it.
Owner and editor of Lid & Liner, published by Magoo Media Group. He started the site after getting tired of the same problem everyone has: every “best trash can” article covers ten products and none of them tells you whether a 13-gallon bag actually fits a 13-gallon can. Lid & Liner covers one category and tries to cover it completely.
Last reviewed November 10, 2026. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it and note the correction.
