What is your waste process costing?

Not what a baler costs. What the current process costs — in hauling, in disposal, in handling time, and in material you are paying to throw away.

Your numbers

Adjust the inputs to match your operation.

Everything updates as you move. The result is an illustrative estimate built from figures you supplied — a starting point for a conversation, not a quote.

What are you considering?

A baler recovers cardboard and other recyclables as a saleable commodity. A compactor reduces the volume of general waste. Many operations use both.

Current monthly hauling & disposal spend $2,400 Total from your hauling invoice, including pickups, container rental and disposal fees.

Trash pickups per week 5× / week Count every scheduled pull across all containers at the site.

Share of your current trash volume that is cardboard 40% Cardboard is bulky and light, so it usually takes up more space in a container than its weight suggests. Corrugated boxes were the single largest product category in U.S. municipal solid waste at 11.4% of total generation in the most recent EPA published data (2018).

Cardboard generated per month 8 tons Connecticut's state environmental agency estimates supermarkets generate roughly 8 to 30+ tons of corrugated cardboard per month, and small convenience stores around 700 to 1,000 pounds per month.

Recovered cardboard value per ton $55 Commodity value is volatile and set by your buyer, not by us. Reported U.S. averages ranged from roughly $45 to $100 per ton across different indices during 2026, with Los Angeles quoted at $50 to $55 per ton in May 2026 and San Francisco at $30 to $35. Set this to $0 to ignore commodity value entirely.

Expected compaction ratio

General waste compactors are commonly cited at 4:1 to 5:1. Dry, bulky material can go higher; wet or dense material lower. Actual ratio depends on the material, the machine and how it is loaded.

Staff time per week handling loose cardboard 6 hrs Breaking down boxes, walking them out, and dealing with overflowing containers.

Fully loaded labor rate $24 Wage plus payroll burden, per hour.

Estimated potential monthly benefit

Illustrative only. Approximately $0 over twelve months at these inputs.

Potential reduction in hauling & disposal$0
Potential recovered cardboard value$0
Potential labor time recovered$0
Estimated potential monthly total$0

Pickups per week today0×
Estimated pickups per week after0×
Potential reduction in pickup frequency0%
Fewer collection trips per year0
Cardboard baled per year (tons)0

Please note: amounts can vary depending on region, city, state and other factors, including local hauling rates, disposal fees, recycled-material prices and labor costs where your facility is located.

These figures are illustrative estimates generated from the values you entered, not a quote, a projection, or a guarantee. Actual results vary based on waste volume and composition, your hauling agreement, contract minimums, commodity markets, equipment configuration, staffing and operating practices. The model is deliberately conservative: only the portion of your invoice that varies with pickup frequency can fall, the compaction ratio you select is derated, modelled pickup reduction is capped at 50%, and a minimum of one pickup per week is always held. Nichols Sales does not set commodity prices or hauling rates.

Review this with a specialist Find your equipment

Transparency

How this model works, and where it is deliberately conservative.

Most savings calculators in this industry do not show their assumptions. Here are ours, so you can argue with them.

Only part of your invoice can fall

The model assumes roughly 80% of your hauling and disposal spend varies with pickup frequency, and that the remaining 20% — container rental, base service, surcharges — does not move at all. Your actual split may differ, and contract minimums may make it less favourable.

Pickup reduction is capped at 50%

The raw volume math can suggest far larger reductions. The model refuses to show them, because service minimums, contract terms and practical scheduling almost always bind first. It also never drops below one pickup per week.

Compaction ratios are derated

The model achieves only about 70% of the ratio you select, because containers are not loaded evenly in practice and material varies day to day. A 4:1 machine is modelled closer to 3:1.

Not all cardboard reaches the baler

About 15% is assumed lost to contamination, moisture or simply being missed during a busy shift. That reduction applies to both the volume effect and the commodity value.

Labor savings are discounted

Only about 60% of the handling time you enter is counted as recoverable. Baling does not eliminate handling; it consolidates it. Some of that time comes back, not all of it.

Commodity value is your input, not our promise

The per-ton figure is a slider because we do not control it and neither does your equipment. Set it to zero and see whether the case still stands on hauling and labor alone. That is the more honest test.

Compaction ratio is a range, not a spec

You choose the ratio. General waste compactors are commonly cited at 4:1 to 5:1; cardboard balers considerably higher. Real performance depends on material, moisture, machine and loading practice.

Nothing here includes equipment cost

This model estimates the operating side only. It does not include purchase or lease cost, installation, power, maintenance or wire. A real payback analysis needs both halves, which is what the conversation is for.

Sources

The published figures behind the defaults.

Every benchmark used to set a default value or a hint in this calculator is public. Nichols does not publish invented statistics.

Recovered cardboard (OCC) pricing: reported U.S. averages of roughly $45 to $62.50 per ton across early to mid 2026, with Los Angeles at $50 to $55 and San Francisco at $30 to $35 per ton in May 2026 (Fastmarkets); spot pricing near $100 per ton in July 2026 against a five-year average of about $140 per ton (Packaging Dive).
Landfill tipping fees: national average of $56.80 per ton in 2023 and $62.28 per ton in 2024, with the Pacific region at $62.28 per ton in 2023 (Environmental Research & Education Foundation).
Cardboard generation benchmarks: supermarkets 8 to 30+ tons per month, department stores 8 to 20+ tons, convenience stores 700 to 1,000 pounds (Connecticut DEEP).
Waste composition: corrugated boxes at 11.4% of total U.S. municipal solid waste generation — the largest single product category — with a 96.5% recycling rate (EPA, most recent published data, 2018).
Compaction ratios: 4:1 as a working figure for stationary compactors (Environment Canada); 4:1 to 5:1 commonly cited for general waste compactors (WasteCare).
Collection cost and frequency: increasing collection from once to twice weekly raised costs by roughly 30% and fuel use by roughly 19% in a Florida study (Hinkley Center, University of Florida).
Example published commercial rates: a 4-yard container collected weekly at $98.10 per month and an 8-yard at $170.60 per month (City of Frisco, Texas).

Nichols Sales does not set commodity prices, hauling rates or disposal fees, and does not warrant that any figure above will apply to your location or agreement. Published benchmarks are cited to show where default values came from, not to predict your result.

The next step

Bring the invoice, not the estimate.

The single most useful document in this whole process is a recent hauling invoice. It shows the real split between fixed and frequency-driven charges, the container sizes, the service schedule and the surcharges — which is everything this model has to assume.

Review this with a specialist Find your equipment

See what compaction could do for your operation.

Estimated, not promised. Then verified, in person.

Talk to Nichols