Trash Compactor Sizes
Business owners and facilities managers across the country know that using a trash compactor to manage non-recyclable waste can reduce their waste footprint, monthly hauling bills, and labor by an average of 4:1! If you are a decision maker for your business and are not sure about the benefits in a trash compactor, read this post for eleven reasons why you should invest in a commercial compactor.
But if you already understand these significant financial and environmental benefits rooted in sustainability, you just need to know what size of trash compactor you need for your business.
How To Know What Trash Compactor Size You Need For Your Business
There are many factors that help to determine the trash compactor size needed to help optimize your company’s waste operations. Each should be taken into consideration before landing on one size of trash compactor. Here are just a few:
The Type And Amount of Waste to be Compacted
In waste management, volume is everything. After all, your goal as a business owner is to use your trash compactor to reduce your trash volume, thus reducing monthly hauler pulls, space used in the landfill, and carbon emissions put into the air by trucks.
The size of compactor you need will depend on the type of operational waste generated in your daily operations. Is your waste wet or dry? Is it bulky and difficult to compact, or is it easy? What type of business hours and work schedules do you have in your operations? All of these things contribute to the volume of trash being deposited into your compactor.
How You Plan To Load The Compactor
The trash compactor size you need may also depend on how you plan or need to load the machine. Conveyor or chute fed models tend to be larger and hold more volume than one yard ground fed stationary models for example. There are many ways to feed just about any compactor, from ground fed, to chute fed, walk on deck, drive on deck, rear double access doors, doghouses, side tippers, hoppers, and offset hoppers.
The Space Available In Your Waste Corral Or Dock Area
The size of trash compactor you can use will not only depend on the type and volume of waste you produce and how you need to feed it into your equipment, but also how much space in your waste corral or dock loading area you can devote to a trash compactor. Be conscientious of how the specific type of compactor you are hoping to get is emptied. Roll off self-contained compactors are typically hooked and removed as one unit, while stationary compactors have their containers emptied into hauling trucks on the spot and replaced. There needs to be sufficient room in your waste or dock areas for these procedures to take place.
That’s why Harmony Enterprises manufactures both vertical and horizontal compactor models. Our two vertical units, the P200 and VC100, provide 7.5:1 and 4:1 compaction ratios, respectively, while using a fraction of the operational space of other models.
Understand Compactor Versus Container Sizes

This Harmony C300 is connected to a 30 yard container to maximize space available for compacted waste.
When determining the size of compactor for your business, its also important to understand the differences between the compactor size and the container size, specifically when dealing with stationary compactors. You might want be able to use a smaller one or two yard compactor to reduce smaller volumes of waste, but want to pack them into a larger container, from 10 to 40 cubic yards in size. There are many different configurations and options that might make more sense for your specific operations.
The Budget You Can Spend On A Trash Compactor
Of course, the size of compactor you are able to get will be based on the type of budget you have to spend on a trash compactor.
Remember to compare the price of the unit with the cost savings you will experience with using it, and the savings in vermin or odor control and employee pilferage. When combined with compactor monitoring, you can achieve additional savings by alerting your hauler to pick up the container only when its full, reducing the amount of partially full pulls and unnecessary pulls each month.
You should also be aware of the many ways that you can acquire a compactor for your business. Harmony Enterprises is proud to offer purchase, rental, and lease options for any budget.
Let Harmony Help You Determine What Size Of Trash Compactor You Need For Your Business!
Harmony Enterprises is a fourth generation, family-owned manufacturer of long lasting waste & recycling solutions. We have been making quality trash compactors of all different sizes for all different types of industries and businesses for decades.
When you contact Harmony, you can count on our experienced, knowledgeable, professional, and friendly sales team to help guide you through our proven process of selecting the exact right size of trash compactor/container for your business’ needs.
Ready to get started saving on your company’s waste volume and expenses? Call us at (507) 886-6666 or fill out this simple form today!