The best outdoor trash cans for patios

Buy the Suncast Trash Hideaway 33 if you want a latching lid on something that does not look like a trash can, and the Keter Copenhagen 30 if looks matter more than latching. If you need two cans out of sight, go straight to a cabinet.

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	Suncast Trash Hideaway Refuse Container, 33 GallonA latching-lid resin can with a wicker texture, for the deck or patio where a municipal cart would look wrong.	Best for patios and decks	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
02	Keter Copenhagen 30 Gallon Outdoor Trash CanA wood-plank-textured resin can in a 16-inch-square footprint, for a deck or patio where a municipal cart would look wrong.	Best-looking patio can	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
03	Suncast 39-Gallon Resin Outdoor Hideaway Trash CanThe larger Hideaway, for a patio that generates more than a 33 can hold between collections.	Best larger patio can	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
04	Suncast Dual 33 Gallon Trash Hideaway CabinetA resin cabinet that swallows two 33-gallon cans, so trash and recycling disappear behind one door.	Best two-can cabinet	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money
05	Keter Store-It-Out MIDI Outdoor Resin Storage ShedA 30-cubic-foot resin cabinet that takes two 32-gallon cans, with a lift lid so you can use it without opening the front.	Best two-can enclosure	Check price on Amazon #ad How we make money

A patio can is a different purchase from a curbside cart, and the criteria barely overlap. Nobody is wheeling this to the road. What it has to do is take a bag, keep the weather and the flies out, survive UV for several summers, and not be the first thing a guest looks at.

We have not weathered these through a season. What we did was compare published dimensions, materials, lid designs and warranties for the patio-format cans we could confirm are currently sold, and rank on what an outdoor entertaining space actually demands. Methodology, disclosure.

The criteria: footprint, because patio floor is the scarcest resource; whether the lid latches, since a lid that only rests on the rim is a wind and raccoon problem; UV and weather claims, because a faded chalky can after two summers is the usual failure; whether a standard bag fits; and whether the thing looks like furniture from ten feet away.

Warranty is worth reading carefully at this end of the market. Several patio cans carry ninety-day general warranties, which is very short for an object that lives permanently in UV and frost — we say so on each product rather than burying it.

UV, which is what actually kills resin

Untreated polypropylene chalks, fades and becomes brittle after a couple of summers of direct sun. UV-stabilized resin is the specification that matters, and it is the reason two cans that look identical can have completely different third-year appearances. If the can will sit in full afternoon sun, this outranks everything else.

Wind, which takes lids

A deck is often the windiest flat surface on a property. A latching hinged lid stays put; a lift-off lid ends up in the yard. If you fall for a can with a lift-off lid — and the best-looking ones usually have them — plan on a strap and treat it as part of the purchase.

Flies, which arrive within the hour

A patio can sees more food waste per gallon than a kitchen can does, and it sees it in the heat. A close-fitting lid helps; emptying it after an evening rather than the next afternoon helps more. If you already have a problem, this is the sequence that fixes it.

The footprint you actually have

The Copenhagen is 16" square, the Trash Hideaway 17". That two-inch difference sounds trivial and is often the reason one fits beside a door and the other does not. Measure before you choose on looks.

If the can is going on a balcony rather than a deck, size down further and check your building's rules — several of these are tall enough to be visible over a railing, which is usually the thing that gets you a letter.