Who Invented the Trash Compactor?

Most trash compactors use hydraulics to compress the trash. Trash compactors were needed for industrial and commercial uses before they were scaled down for home use. In 1941, M. S. Wells was given a patent for his invention to crush oil cans used at gas stations in Pennsylvania. There may have been trash compactors before then, but this was the first patented device.

Compactors for the Home

Starting in the 1960s, several inventions were instrumental in the development of the trash compactor that is currently used in the home. In 1968, John A. Boyd received the first patent for a home trash compactor. It used hydraulic pressure from a water connection to compact the trash.

The “Trash Masher” was made by the Whirlpool Corporation in 1969. Stephen Hopkins applied for a patent in 1971 for his compactor that could be used in apartment buildings and offices. Instead of water it used an electrical hydraulic unit to compress the trash.

Upgrades to the original Trash Masher concept were introduced in the 1990s. John Bauer invented and patented an upgrade in 1991 with separate compartments for recyclables. In 1992 Ray Lackner made a new trash compactor that crushed the trash, but did not bail it immediately. This allowed the consumer to add trash at any time.

Compactors and Trash

Solar-powered trash compactors have since replaced dumpsters and trash cans. They require no electricity, so they not only reduce waste, but reduce emissions. Since they are closed, they reduce the number of rodents, animals, and bugs and they also decrease the number of trips city sanitation workers have to make. By lowering the number of trips from three to one, the city trucks uses less gas and personnel.

Garbage Trucks

Any discussion about who invented the trash compactor has to include some of the biggest trash compactors which are frequently attached to trucks. There are the five kinds of waste collection vehicles (WCVs):

Front loaders
Rear loaders
Side loaders
Pneumatic collection
Grapple trucks

Front loaders have big forks on the front that fit into slots on the dumpsters. The forks lift the dumpster over the truck, flips it upside down and empties it into the hopper. A “packer blade” pushes the trash toward the back of the truck.

Rear loaders open in the back, where waste collectors throw the bags into the hopper. Some have a lifting mechanism for large containers. After the trash is in the hopper, a wall moves the garbage to the front of the truck.

Side loaders, as the name implies, receive the garbage from workers on the side, or use an automated lifts. In side loaders, the trash is compressed to the back of the truck.

With pneumatic collection, waste is sent to an underground collection area from a person’s home. They have a big crane with a “mouth” at the end which retrieves the waste from the underground collection area.

Grapple trucks handle the really big jobs, like large appliances, furniture, or logs. They handle anything that is too bulky for the other methods of trash collection.

Trash Timeline

In addition to the invention of trash compactors, there are plenty of other milestones in the history of the garbage industry.

400 BC Athens establishes the first city dump.
1388 Dumping trash in ditches and rivers is banned in England.
1710 The citizens of Virginia bury their garbage.
1902 MIT reports that 79% of cities have regular trash collection.
1904 Chicago and Cleveland begin recycling aluminum.
1920 Filling wetlands is a popular method of trash disposal.
1932 Compactor garbage trucks are developed.
1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act asks for better ways of trash disposal.
1970 Federal Clean Air Act leads to the shut down of incinerators.
1972 Washington state starts buying back recyclables.
1974 University City, Missouri puts out curbside recycling bins for newspapers.
1986 Rhode Island passes mandatory recycling laws.
1990 38 states now have recycling laws.
2000 50 percent of the waste has to be recycled in California cities.

REDUCE, RECYCLE, REUSE.

So the question, “Who invented the trash compactor?” has no single answer. It is one of many ways to manage the ever increasing flow of garbage. Today, people are much more aware that there is a great need to reduce, recycle, and reuse. Compactors help in reducing trash. As our population grows, the need to reduce, recycle, and reuse grows with it.