A corridor can that is full by 2 p.m. and a case of liners that fits only half the cans in the building are the same problem. Somebody picked a can size without the three numbers behind it: capacity in gallons, the can's footprint, and the bag that fits it.

Gallons alone won't settle it. Two 14-gallon cans can differ by several inches in depth, and a bag labeled for a can's gallons can still slip or split. The chart below sorts commercial trash can sizes into tiers with typical liners, and the Glaro tables after it use product-page specs for the trash cans we carry.

Commercial Trash Can Sizes Chart

Commercial trash can sizes chart. Ranges are typical across commercial lines; confirm exact dimensions on the spec sheet for the model you order.

Wastebaskets are often rated in quarts. Four quarts make a gallon, so a 28-quart wastebasket is a 7-gallon can. Metric ratings convert at about 0.264 gallons per liter, which puts a 50-liter can near 13 gallons.

Wheeled carts and dumpsters are separate purchases. A 95-gallon cart holds about 30 gallons more than a 65 and is built for the trip to the dumpster. Dumpsters are rated in cubic yards, roughly 202 gallons per yard, and get sized with your hauler.

The Glaro RecyclePro Value receptacles we distribute come in three sizes that share a 30-inch height. Diameter alone sets the capacity, and the opening grows with the body:

Glaro trash cans we distribute: RecyclePro Value dimensions.

The 20-inch model holds nearly three times what the 12-inch model holds at the same height. Volume climbs with the square of the diameter, so on cans this size, a few inches of width adds more capacity than a few inches of height.

On the RecyclePro Value series, the custom-fit poly bag folds over the receptacle body, and the cover's extra-long overlap conceals the bag and holds it in place. No inner liner can is included, and optional plastic inner liner cans are available upon request.

Reading the Numbers: Gallons vs. Dimensions

Shape decides how a can's gallons sit in the room. A round can needs clearance on all sides, and a square can tucks into a corner. A slim can, a narrow rectangle, runs long against the wall and shallow into the room.

A half-round can puts its flat back against the wall, so less of it projects into the walkway. The Glaro Profile Series 18" half-round we distribute measures 30" H x 18" W x 9" D and holds 14 gallons, with a 5.5" x 12" opening on a hinged lid (model 1891).

On the 1891, a plastic inner liner is included, and the wall mounting bracket (WM189) is an optional accessory. Top style can change the rated capacity of a shell that looks the same, so compare capacity by model number rather than by outside dimensions.

A small opening also cuts into usable capacity. Funnel, canopy and tip-action tops keep waste out of view and cut down on smell, but paper towels and cups can bridge across the opening before the body is full. A covered can may need emptying sooner than an open top of the same gallons.

Many decorative cans are an outer shell around a removable inner container. When there is one, measure the inner container for bag fit and real capacity, since the shell is larger than what it holds.

Glaro offers inner liner options that provide a neat, removable container for easier servicing and waste removal. Whether one comes with the can varies by model, so check that model's product page.

To size a can with no label, measure the inside diameter (or width and depth), the inside height, and the opening. A gallon is 231 cubic inches, so:

• Round: 3.14 x radius x radius x height ÷ 231

• Square or rectangular: width x depth x height ÷ 231

A 15-inch round can that stands 30 inches tall works out to about 23 gallons, which matches the rating on the 15-inch RecyclePro Value. That figure is brim capacity. A lid or a small opening leaves less usable space.

Choosing a Size by Space and Traffic

Size each can to hold at least the waste it collects between service rounds. A can that fills at 2 p.m. on a 5 p.m. round either costs custodial staff a second trip or overflows, and the extra trip repeats daily until the can is resized.

Size depends on foot traffic past the can, the waste it takes (light paper, wet food or mixed), how often it gets serviced, and the floor or wall space available. With those noted, compare the indoor waste receptacles in our commercial waste receptacles collection by gallons and footprint.

Oversizing has its own cost. A 32-gallon can in a quiet office holds several days of trash and the odor with it, or gets serviced half-empty and uses a liner each round anyway.

1) Offices and Workstations

Desk-side wastebaskets in the 3–7 gallon range handle a workstation's paper and wrappers. Copy and print areas take 10–23 gallons, often paired with a paper recycling receptacle of a similar size so staff sort at the machine.

Break rooms fill with food scraps, cups and liquids, which add weight and smell sooner than paper. A 23–33 gallon can with a lid or funnel top fits a shared break room better than the 13-gallon kitchen can many people know from home.

In client-facing offices, designer trash receptacles in matching sizes keep desks and common areas consistent. The Glaro open-top cans in designer colors we distribute come in sizes covering 5–39 gallons.

2) Restrooms

Single-stall restrooms generally need 3–10 gallons. Multi-stall rooms need 14–29 gallons near the sinks, since a load of used paper towels is bulky and weighs little. Mounting a half-round on the wall leaves the floor open for the mop; check the clearance rules below before you mount one along a route.

In food establishments, the FDA Food Code handles the two cans in separate sections. Section 5-501.16 calls for a waste receptacle at each handwashing sink, or group of adjacent sinks, where disposable towels are used.

Section 5-501.17 is the one that calls for a cover: the 2022 edition required a covered receptacle for sanitary napkins in toilet rooms used by females, and FDA's summary of changes says the 2026 edition requires covered waste receptacles in all toilet rooms. The full text is on FDA's Food Code 2026 page.

The Food Code is a model code that states and localities adopt on their own schedules, and many still enforce an earlier edition. Requirements vary by location, so check the edition your health authority has adopted before standardizing restroom cans across sites.

Sanitary napkin waste goes in a separate covered receptacle inside the stall, kept apart from the can by the sinks. The receptacles we manufacture come in two sizes, both 22 gauge steel and made in the USA. The TD1000 (7.5" W x 9.75" H x 4" D) holds 1 gallon, has a lift-top lid and takes TD1010 liners. The TD9200 (9.5" W x 12" H x 4" D) holds 1.5 gallons and takes TD9024 (green) or TD9022 (white) liners. Its push-in panel lets users deposit a wrapped item without lifting a lid or directly touching the panel with their hand.

Each has an internal liner support frame that holds the liner securely open and helps keep waste inside the liner. The covered designs keep discarded products out of view, help contain odors and support a neat, well-maintained restroom. Both are designed for hygienic disposal and to support compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design when installed properly.

Our sanitary napkin disposal receptacles collection lists the steel receptacle options, and stall-by-stall capacity is covered in how to select the right size and capacity for menstrual receptacles.

3) Lobbies, Entrances and Corridors

Plan on 16–33 gallons for lobbies, entrances and corridors. These cans take heavy foot traffic in many buildings and sit in plain view, so appearance counts alongside capacity.

A funnel, canopy or tip-action top keeps the bag and its contents out of sight. For hotel lobby trash cans beside the front desk or elevator bank, a covered top in a finish that matches the space keeps the can from drawing the eye.

Put cans where people finish something: beside the doors, at elevator landings, and next to vending. In narrow high-traffic hallways, a slim or half-round can leaves more of the corridor open. At exterior entrances, a combination ash and trash unit keeps cigarette butts out of the trash body.

4) Classrooms and Schools

School trash cans for classrooms generally run 10–23 gallons per room. Cafeterias need 32–55 gallons at the tray return, plus separate recycling receptacles and food waste containers where the district sorts those streams.

Set each trash can next to a recycling container of a similar size. When the two match, students are less likely to drop everything in whichever opening is closer.

5) Foodservice and Kitchens

Put the largest cans where kitchen waste is generated, at the prep line and the dish station. That usually means 32–55 gallon round cans with lifting handles, many of them set on dollies, and a wheeled cart for taking bagged waste out to the dumpster.

Under FDA Food Code §5-501.13, containers for refuse and food residue need to be durable and cleanable, leakproof and nonabsorbent, and resistant to insects and rodents. They can be lined with plastic or wet-strength paper bags inside the establishment, or inside closed outside receptacles.

Section 5-501.113 sets when they're covered. Inside, any refuse receptacle needs a cover once it's filled, and one holding food residue also needs one whenever it isn't in continuous use. A can in continuous use on the prep line can stay uncovered until it's full. Outside, receptacles need tight-fitting lids or doors. Your health authority's adopted edition controls.

6) Outdoor and Grounds

Outdoor cans are usually serviced less often than indoor ones, so size them up: 32–55 gallons, with covered tops and heavier construction to handle wind, rain and animals. A lid also keeps rain out of the bag, which keeps the bag lighter to lift.

Matching Liner Sizes to Can Sizes

Bags that slide down into the can or split at the rim are a common complaint from custodial crews. Where the can's manufacturer recommends a liner, that liner comes first. For any other can, start with two measurements, width and length:

• Round can width: half the circumference, or diameter x 1.57

• Square or rectangular can width: width + depth

• Length, any shape: can height + half the base diameter (or width) + about 3 inches of overhang

Gusseted bags are listed as width x gusset x length. The 23" x 17" x 46" gusseted liner we stock opens to an 80-inch circumference, 2 x (23 + 17), and is rated for 40-gallon cans at 1.4 mil.

Trash can liner sizes by can capacity. Treat these as starting estimates for cans without a specified liner.

Bag gallons run generous on purpose. A 13-gallon kitchen bag is often cut for 10- to 12-gallon cans so there's overhang to tie, a 32-gallon can pairs with a 33-gallon liner, and a 44-gallon can lands in the 40 x 46 row.

Our trash bags collection lists liners by dimensions and thickness.

For the 12-, 15- and 20-inch RecyclePro Value receptacles above, Glaro recommends its LB-series clear poly liners, which we distribute. All three are 2 mil:

On these receptacles, use the manufacturer-recommended LB12, LB15 or LB20 rather than a size worked out from the formulas. Glaro sizes the LB series to its own receptacles, so its bag takes priority over any estimate.

Thickness rates strength; gallons rate volume. Linear low-density (LLDPE) bags are rated in mil and stretch before they puncture, which suits kitchens and glass. High-density (HDPE) bags are rated in microns (one mil is 25.4 microns), run thinner, and handle light office paper.

Standardizing can sizes by zone shortens the liner order. A building with three standard can sizes stocks three liner sizes, and the custodial cart carries fewer cases.

Accessibility and Placement Clearances

Under §307.2 of the 2010 ADA Standards, a wall-mounted object with its leading edge more than 27 inches and no more than 80 inches above the floor can protrude no more than 4 inches into a circulation path.

Wall-mounted on a route with its bottom edge above 27 inches, the 9-inch-deep Profile 18" would project more than twice that limit. Keep its bottom edge at or below 27 inches, mount it outside the circulation path, or leave it floor-standing. If you wall-mount it, the optional Glaro wall mounting bracket for half-round receptacles is sold separately.

A protruding object also can't reduce the required clear width of the route under §307.5, and §305.3 sets clear floor space at 30 x 48 inches minimum. A can parked in a fixture's clear floor space or in a door swing blocks room the facility has to keep usable.

That upkeep is an ongoing duty. Under 28 CFR 36.211, public accommodations must maintain required accessible features in operable working condition, so a can moved into a clear floor space after install becomes a maintenance issue.

Where a can's lid or opening counts as an operable part, §308 places it within the 15–48 inch unobstructed reach range, and §309.4 calls for it to work with one hand, without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist, at no more than 5 pounds of force.

The federal Standards don't name trash receptacles in their scoping, so confirm with your architect or code official how your project treats them. Mounting heights and clearances for the dispensers and receptacles we manufacture are in The Architect's Spec Guide to Feminine Hygiene Dispensers & Receptacles.

Settling on Standard Sizes for Your Building

A size plan for the whole building takes a walk-through and a few weeks of fill checks:

1. Go zone by zone and record what each can collects and roughly how many people pass it.

2. For two weeks, have custodial staff mark each can at service as overflowing, full or half-empty.

3. Settle on two to four can sizes for the building, grouping zones that fill at a similar rate.

4. Assign one liner size to each can size: the manufacturer-recommended liner where one exists, and the width and length formulas as a starting estimate for the rest.

5. Check fill levels again a month after the change, then move any can that still overflows up a size and any that comes back half-empty down one.

If the plan includes Glaro receptacles, build production time into the schedule. Allow approximately 14 business days for production, plus shipping, and confirm dimensions and finishes before ordering. Color chips are available to help with finish selection.

For material, lid style and durability, see How to Choose a Commercial Waste Receptacle. When your zone list is ready, send us the can counts, sizes and current liner order, and we'll quote the receptacles and liners together.