The best outdoor trash cans under $100

Not every household needs a municipal-grade cart, but almost every household needs the lid to stay on. This one attaches to the body and clicks into place, which handles wind and casual animal interest for a fraction of what a commercial rollout costs. The body is a single impact-resistant polypropylene moulding with no seams to leak, the base is reinforced so it takes being dragged, and there is a groove under the bottom edge for the lift-and-pour at the curb.

Anyone who has fought a wet bag out of a smooth-sided can knows the problem: suction. Rubbermaid molds venting channels into the BRUTE's walls that let air in behind the bag, and states liners come out up to 50% more easily as a result. Integrated cinches let you tie the bag to the handles without knotting it. It meets NSF 2 and 21 and is USDA Meat and Poultry listed, which tells you the surface genuinely cleans.

The latch is the point: a hinged lid that clicks shut is a materially harder target for a raccoon than a lid resting on a rim. The wicker-style finish and the solid bottom panel mean it reads as outdoor furniture rather than refuse, which is why people will actually put it on a deck rather than hiding it down the side of the house. It assembles without tools.

The Darwin is 16.14" square and 33.35" tall, which is a small footprint for 38 gallons: it goes against a railing or beside a door without eating the walkway. The plank texture is the point — on a deck it reads as furniture rather than refuse. Unlike most decorative cans the lid is not just resting there; Keter fits two latches that hold it and the bag in place in wind. The removable drip tray in the base catches the leak you will eventually get and lifts out to be rinsed.

A garage can does not need a mechanism, a finish or a damper. It needs volume, a body that survives being dragged, and a price that lets you buy two so trash and recycling are separated at the source. That is exactly what this is. Thirty-two gallons is also the size the rest of the hardware world is built around, so lids, dollies, straps and 30-33 gallon liners all fit it.

A wet bag in a smooth-sided can forms a vacuum, and that is the moment cheap cans tear. Rubbermaid moulds venting channels down the inside wall and states bag removal is up to 50 percent easier as a result; integrated cinches hold the liner by the rim and are tested to 20,000 cycles. The base is engineered to be dragged over rough ground, the rim has an internal rib structure against crushing, and the body carries a UV inhibitor. Twenty gallons is the size that fits under a workbench and still takes a full bag.