Trash Compactor is the great invention which unfortunately is not widely used. Only around 3% of homes in US have it. The purpose of trash compactor is to compact 2-3 bags of garbage down into one bag. That saves trash storage space as well as disposal labor. There is a mechanism that is crushing down the trash. All is required to close the unit and turn the knob and it will crush all the garbage all the way down. The ram (the platform that presses down on the garbage) in the trash compactor squeezes the trash flat with tremendous force. There also another future that is helpful and that is an air filter due to the fact that simply trash smells. Overall trash compactors are very easy to maintain as all that needs to be done is cleaning of the interior of your trash compactor, ram and any part that comes into direct contact with the garbage.