Best Plastic-Free Ice Cube Trays

Last reviewed July 2026

Trays and molds for making ice.

The short answer

Only two options and they split cleanly on whether you accept silicone. The Onyx tray is the reference plastic-free choice - 18/8 stainless in the vintage lever design, no plastic, aluminium or coating anywhere - and the trade is that cold steel is unpleasant to handle straight from the freezer, and cubes stick if you overfill or freeze them hard. The W&P Peak is the flexible alternative, food-grade silicone with a steel-reinforced rim and a fitted lid, which releases cubes far more easily. It's silicone-only rather than plastic-free, and silicone picks up freezer odours over time despite the lid.

Why plastic matters in ice cube trays

Water freezes and sits for days in the tray, and flexing plastic trays to release cubes stresses the material; recent attention on cold-temperature microplastic release put this cheap category on the radar. Stainless lever-action trays (the pre-plastic design) and silicone molds are the alternatives.

What to look for in ice cube trays

Vintage-style stainless lever trays are fully plastic-free and work well
Silicone molds are the flexible option - platinum-cured quality matters here
Check the freezer-to-glass workflow; steel trays release with a lever, no twisting

Recommended ice cube trays

Every product here we'd actually suggest — best-in-class picks first, then the rest by how plastic-free they are.

Best Fully Plastic-Free $$

Onyx

Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray

Plastic-free

A fully stainless 18/8 lever-action ice tray in the vintage design - no plastic, no aluminum, no coating, no BPA. The reference plastic-free ice tray.

Best Flexible (Silicone) $

W&P

Peak Silicone Ice Tray

Silicone only

Food-grade silicone ice tray with a steel-reinforced rim and a fitted silicone lid - flexible release with no plastic, landing at silicone-only.

Product	Rating	Touches your food	Price	Made in
Onyx Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray Best Fully Plastic-Free	Plastic-free	Stainless Steel	$$	—
W&P Peak Silicone Ice Tray Best Flexible (Silicone)	Silicone only	Silicone	$	—

Ice cube trays to avoid

Popular options that look plastic-free but aren't — and whole categories worth skipping.

Plastic twist ice trays (the standard freezer tray)

The thing these picks replace. Water freezes and sits for days against plastic, and you twist and flex the tray - stressing the material - every time you release cubes, which is exactly the mechanism recent cold-temperature microplastic-shedding concern focuses on. Cheap, but the whole reason the category is on the radar.

Common questions about ice cube trays

Is there a fully plastic-free option for ice cube trays?

Yes. Of the 2 ice cube trays we recommend, 1 rates as fully plastic-free, with no plastic and no silicone anywhere in the product: Onyx Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray.

Which ice cube trays do you recommend most?

Of the 2 ice cube trays we recommend, Onyx Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray takes Best Fully Plastic-Free and W&P Peak Silicone Ice Tray takes Best Flexible (Silicone).

Which ice cube trays should you avoid?

We suggest skipping Plastic twist ice trays (the standard freezer tray).