The benefits of compacting trash are varied. Besides the fact that it helps conserve the environment, a trash compactor also provides a sanitary way of disposing hazardous waste. Depending on the nature and volume of waste, there are different types of trash compactors on the market. These are described below.
1. A Pre-Crusher
The trash compactor reduces the volume of trash prior to compacting it into a container. Pre-crushing waste further reduces the volume of trash. The pre-crusher uses an intense force to crush waste against a vertical wall of steel inside the machine. Once the waste is compacted, the wall disengages, allowing a packing ram to complete the task by compacting the trash into an attached container. Pre-crushers can be used to crush bulky items such as furniture.
2. A Stationary Compactor
This is essentially a permanently fixed structure that is usually located in public places such as near retail stores, hospitals, and light and heavy industrial plants. Using these compactors helps lower waste disposal costs through enhanced load handling. A stationary compactor is ideally suited for handling the type of waste generated by different establishments. These types of waste include industrial waste, office furniture, recyclable materials and other day-to-day waste.
3. Vertical Baler
This compactor is ideally suited for compacting recyclable materials such as aluminum, paper, cardboard, plastic and rags. Most establishments use a verticle baler to reduce waste volumes through compacting. Some verticle balers feature hydraulic ejection systems that are more cost-effective to maintain and are easier to load due to their wide openings. To get the best out of a vertical baler, use the heavy-duty compactors that can handle all your compacting needs.
4. Vertical Compactors
These are used to compact wet and dry waste. Instead of having too many trash containers strewn all over, vertical compactors have a more compact design and are easy to operate. They are suitable for hotels, schools, fast food businesses, restaurants, and nursing homes. Although they can be placed indoors, a roll-up door with outside access facilitates trucks to pick them up and empty them whenever needed.
5. Self-Contained Compactors
These types of compactors can handle large volumes of liquid trash. The compactor comes with an inbuilt container. When full, the entire compactor is ferried away to be emptied at a landfill. Self-contained compactors feature loading chambers measuring between one and two cubic yards. The containers measure between 10 and 30 cubic yards.
6. Apartment Compactors
These are ideal for high-density residential neighbourhoods, especially areas with highrise apartments. The compactors are chute-fed and are controlled by an electric photo-eye. The containers used by these compactors measure two cubic yards. You can have many containers placed on site. These containers can be switched off when full.
Trash compactors play a significant role in minimizing waste and therefore conserving the environment. Their ability to compact large volumes of waste also results in huge savings as large volumes of trash can easily be store and ferried to the landfills in a compacted state.
