Parts of a Trash Compactor – Ram, Drawer, Key Switch

All 9 parts on the diagram

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From the front 6

Cabinet It fits under a kitchen counter or stands on its own. The ram works inside it.
Control panel The key switch is on it.
Key switch It must be turned on before the compactor will run. The key comes out, which locks the compactor.
Handle The drawer is opened by lifting and pulling it.
Drawer It holds the bag. The trash is dropped in, and the drawer is closed before the compactor will start.
Leveling legs Screw up or down to level the compactor on an uneven floor.

Cut through 3

Ram Driven down into the drawer, it presses the trash. It goes back up, and the compactor shuts off. It stops short of the drawer's bottom.
Bag Lines the drawer, with its top edges pulled over the drawer's top.
Latch Releasing it lets a side of the drawer swing open. A full bag can then be lifted out.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent compactor makers use it. One maker's use and care guide, full text at https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7326813 (cabinet, drawer, compacting ram, key-knob and key switch, handle, bag, side-lock latch, leveling legs, control panel), whose names also appear in two other brands' guides of the same design, https://archive.org/details/manualsbase-id-641571 and https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7021031, counted with it as one source; and a second maker's installation, use and care guide, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-7378467 (cabinet, compactor drawer, ram, key lock switch, door handle, bag, latches, leveling legs, control panel). Wikipedia, Compactor, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compactor, was read and names no parts of a kitchen compactor. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's compactor, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A trash compactor squeezes household trash into a smaller space with an electrically powered ram. The first drawing shows it from the front; the second cuts it through, with the drawer pulled out.

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What happens in one cycle

Trash is dropped into the bag that lines the drawer, and the drawer is closed. With the key switch turned on, the compactor is started. The ram moves down into the drawer, presses the trash, and moves back up, and the compactor shuts itself off. The ram never reaches the bottom, so nothing seems to happen until the drawer is about half full.

Getting the bag out

The drawer slides out by its handle. A latch on the drawer lets one of its sides open, so the full bag can be lifted out.

The key comes out of the key switch. Makers say to remove it and keep it away from children.
One maker calls the drawer the trash bucket. Both names are accepted.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a trash compactor?

Outside: the cabinet, a control panel with a key switch, the drawer and its handle, and leveling legs. Inside: the ram, which presses the trash, and the bag that lines the drawer.

What is the part that crushes the trash called?

The ram, or compacting ram. It moves down into the drawer, compresses the trash and moves back up again.

Why does a trash compactor have a key?

The key switch locks the compactor. With the key turned off and taken out, the compactor cannot be started, which keeps children from running it.

Why does the ram not reach the bottom of the drawer?

It is made that way. One maker's guide says you will not see any compacting the first few times you load the drawer; it has to be more than half full.