Joseph Joseph Totem Max 60L Review: Two 30L Bins in One Footprint
The Totem Max stacks a 30-litre bin on top of another 30-litre bin, with a 3-litre food caddy that lives inside, all on a floor space of 39 × 36.6 cm. Owners mostly love it and editors keep it for years. The complaints are about the lid, the price and the cost of the branded bags — and one measurement most listings bury: open, it stands 111 cm tall.
Where the reviews line up
The evidence comes from three places: the buying guide at Real Homes, where a staff writer living in a small flat rated it 5/5, the parents' forum Mumsnet, whose bin round-up names it the best bin for waste separation and quotes a four-year owner, and 1,146 buyer reviews on Joseph Joseph's own UK site, cross-checked against 741 at John Lewis.
All three agree on the main point. It saves floor space. Stacking the recycling under the rubbish puts 60 litres where you would normally fit one 30-litre bin, and Real Homes, Mumsnet's owner and Ideal Home's content editor, who calls it her personal favourite after years of use, all buy it for that reason. They also agree it lasts, with several owners still using theirs years on.
They also agree on the downsides. It is expensive: Joseph Joseph lists it at £210 in black or grey and £235 in stainless steel. The branded IW6 bags add to the cost, though Mumsnet notes that supermarket liners work, just less neatly. And the lid divides owners. It opens with a tap on a metal bar but is not soft-close and does not close itself, and one buyer says it takes several goes to shut. The odour filter gets mixed reports too.
Measure before you buy. The lid lifts the bin to 111 cm. A standard worktop is about 90 cm high, so check this bin will not open into a wall cupboard or a shelf above it.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Real HomesBuying guide; the team says it tested 10 of its 18 picks. Rated 5/5, with a named staff owner.
- MumsnetBin round-up built on user recommendations. One named four-year owner, no thread count given.
- Joseph Joseph UK & John Lewis4.4/5 from 1,146 reviews and 4.5/5 from 741, checked 8 October 2026.
Before the review: is it still sold?
Yes, but stock is patchy. On 8 October 2026 Joseph Joseph's UK site listed the 60L in black, grey, stone and stainless steel with an Add to bag button, but also showed a "notify me when available" prompt, and the stainless starter set marked the bin as out of stock. John Lewis showed the stainless and stone versions as out of stock online. Lakeland lists the stone version as discontinued. Next was taking orders for the silver version. If you want a particular colour, check stock before you set your heart on it.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Compartment split | Two 30 L compartments (upper and lower) plus a removable 3 L food waste caddy | Joseph Joseph UK product page |
| Dimensions | 81.4 cm high (lid closed), 111 cm with lid open × 39 cm wide × 36.6 cm deep | Joseph Joseph. John Lewis says 81 × 39 × 36.5 cm, Lakeland says 80 × 39.5 × 37 cm |
| Weight | 9.7 kg | Joseph Joseph; John Lewis gives 9.72 kg and 10 kg on two listings |
| Opening | Touch: tap the metal bar to lift the lid. Not soft-close and does not close itself | John Lewis says “touch”; mechanism details come from a buyer review on Joseph Joseph's page |
| Pedal | None | No source mentions one |
| Liners | IW6 30 L for the two main compartments, IW2 4 L for the caddy. Standard liners also fit, according to Joseph Joseph | Joseph Joseph; Mumsnet says supermarket bags work but fit less neatly |
| IW6 liner cost | £33 for 4 rolls of 20 (80 bags), about 41p a bag | John Lewis, 8 Oct 2026; the per-bag figure is our sum |
| Odour filter | Replaceable activated carbon filter in the lid; Joseph Joseph advises a new one every 3 months | Joseph Joseph; John Lewis |
| Filter cost | £9.50 for 2 (Joseph Joseph), £9.00 for 2 (John Lewis), about £19 a year | 8 Oct 2026; annual figure is ours, assuming one filter every 3 months |
| Guarantee | 3 years against defects in materials and workmanship | Joseph Joseph product details and John Lewis. The Joseph Joseph site banner says 2 years; a Lakeland banner says 10 — see below |
| RRP | £210 black or grey · £235 stainless steel · starter sets £218 and £240 | Joseph Joseph UK, 8 Oct 2026 |
| Live prices | £199 graphite and £229 stainless (stainless out of stock) at John Lewis · £229 silver at Next | Checked 8 Oct 2026 |
Real Homes
Who they are: Real Homes is a home-interest title owned by the publisher Future, whose reviewers test products in their own homes for at least two weeks rather than in a lab; it earns affiliate commission and never takes payment for reviews, it says.
Real Homes calls this a luxury kitchen bin and gives it five stars. The guide says the team tested 10 of its 18 picks but does not say which ones, so we cannot be sure the Totem Max was one of them. The firmest evidence on the page is the reviewer biography: staff writer Molly Cleary, who lives in a flat with a small kitchen, is said to have loved it. The pros are short and practical: neat and tidy, perfect for small spaces, easy to empty. The guide also says the corners inside the buckets will not rip your bin bags.
The cons are just as short and point the same way as every other source we read: not for large families, and a high price. Two 30-litre buckets fill faster than a single 50-litre bin, and a busy household may be emptying it every day. Ideal Home's content editor Holly Cockburn backs up the durability point in a round-up from April 2026. She calls it her personal favourite, “still in perfect condition” after years of use, though that is long-term ownership, not a test.
Watch: Totem Max Recycling Bin, Joseph Joseph - Review
An owner review of this exact bin, which pairs best with the editorial pros and cons. We confirmed it by search listing only.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Mumsnet
Who they are: Lucy Cotterill is a freelance content writer at Mumsnet specialising in parenting and home product reviews and round-ups, and has reviewed products on her own blog, Real Mum Reviews, since 2012, so she knows the category well.
Mumsnet's round-up is built on forum recommendations, expert opinion and consumer reviews. Unlike its Brabantia and EKO picks, the Totem Max entry has no “reviewed by” credit, so do not read it as tested. It is also thin: one owner is quoted, and Mumsnet gives no count of how many members recommended it. We include it because that owner's verdict is the one most people would reach: it “takes up the space of one bin”, rubbish on top and recycling below, it “is a ridiculously expensive price”, and it has lasted four years.
Mumsnet also says something about running costs that the maker's page does not. It lists the branded liners as costly and says supermarket bin bags fit less perfectly but work. It also notes some reviewers found the bin less sturdy than they expected, and it quoted £155 at the time of writing.
Watch: I got the Joseph Joseph Intelligent Waste Totem Max and I love it!
A happy owner talking about living with the bin, in the same spirit as the Mumsnet recommendation. We confirmed it by search listing only.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Joseph Joseph UK and John Lewis
Who they are: Joseph Joseph is the manufacturer, so ratings on its own shop pages are customer views hosted by the seller; John Lewis’ are moderated by PowerReviews and include labelled free-product reviews and a £100 prize draw — both are buyer satisfaction, not tests.
These are big samples, but both pages sell the bin, and the Joseph Joseph count of 1,146 is shared across all four colours. The scores match: 4.4 and 4.5 out of 5. The written reviews on Joseph Joseph's page tell you more than the stars.
The lid comes up again and again. One buyer says you “just tap the metal bar” to open it. Another, Bev, gives four stars but warns it is “not soft close or auto close” and you “have to push it back down”. A third buyer gives five stars and still calls the lid “poor”, saying it “takes multiple attempts to close”. Owners disagree about smells. Huw G. says the lid and filter are “very good at keeping the smell inside”. Eleanor finds the odour filter “isn't very effective”, and a one-star buyer found the smell “far more noticeable”. A few owners report breakages: a lid that “snapped off” on a stainless model, and a hinge that failed after three to four years on the smaller 40L version. None of the reviews we read mention liners.
Watch: UNBOXING THE JOSEPH JOSEPH TOTEM MAX BIN
An unboxing of the Totem Max, useful for seeing the two buckets, the caddy and the lid bar before you buy. We confirmed it by search listing only.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- 60 litres on the floor space of a single 39 × 36.6 cm bin.
- An even split: 30 L rubbish, 30 L recycling, plus a 3 L food caddy that fits in either compartment or on the worktop.
- Lasts: Ideal Home's editor has used hers for years, a Mumsnet owner for four.
- Bag hooks and liner-retaining holes, and corners that Real Homes says will not rip bags.
- Standard bin bags work if you will not pay for IW6.
- Three-year guarantee in the product details.
What people complain about
- Price: £210 to £235 at RRP for a bin.
- The lid is not soft-close and does not close itself, and some owners struggle to shut it.
- Opens to 111 cm, so it can catch on wall cupboards above a worktop.
- Odour control gets mixed reports.
- Two 30 L buckets fill quickly in a large household.
- Branded liners about 41p a bag and filters about £19 a year add to the running cost.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if your kitchen has room for one bin but your council wants two kinds of rubbish, and you have at least 111 cm of headroom where it will stand. For a flat, a galley kitchen or a couple, it is the bin all three sources recommend.
Look elsewhere if you want a lid that closes softly by itself, a pedal so you can use it hands-free, or more space for a big family. Brabantia's two-compartment pedal bin is the obvious rival. We have reviewed the Brabantia Bo Pedal Bin 2 × 30L, which has the same split side by side and a pedal. It takes up more floor but opens much lower: 91.7 cm with the lid up, on Coolblue's figure.
If the bin is part of a kitchen refit, our Le Creuset Signature casserole, Smeg KLF03 kettle and KitchenAid Artisan reviews look at other expensive kitchen buys where you pay for looks as well as how they work.
What we could not check
- The guarantee length. The product details at Joseph Joseph and John Lewis say 3 years. Joseph Joseph's own site-wide banner says 2 years, and a banner on Lakeland's (discontinued) listing says 10 years. We use the 3-year figure from the product details. Check the guarantee terms with whoever sells it to you.
- Stock. Joseph Joseph's pages show Add to bag next to “notify me when available”, so we cannot say for certain that a given colour will ship.
- Which standard bin bag size fits. Joseph Joseph says standard liners work, and Mumsnet says supermarket bags fit less neatly, but nobody publishes the bag size that fits a Totem Max compartment.
- The price of one 20-bag roll of IW6 on its own. We only found the 80-bag John Lewis pack.
- How many filters the bin takes. John Lewis describes one filter in the main lid, and our £19-a-year sum assumes one. Joseph Joseph's filter page lists Totem bins without naming the Max, though the Max starter set includes two filters.
- Independent measured testing. No source measured odour control, lid life or bucket strength. Real Homes does not say whether the Totem Max was one of the 10 bins it tested.
- How the lower compartment opens. No product listing describes it; one buyer mentions rolling the lower bin out.
- The videos. We confirmed all three by search listing, not by watching them, and no listing named the channels.
Sources last checked 8 October 2026. Prices and stock change from week to week — check the listing in front of you before ordering.