Along the path leading to the Baseball Field, a blue trash compactor has been installed to reduce waste and help keep the campus clean.

The trash compactor is a machine used to minimize the size of waste material or biomass by compacting the trash. It saves Buildings and Grounds $375 per month, Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said.

Community and Government Affairs Manager Biella Moore said the Richmond Sanitary Service has been serving Contra Costa College since its opening in the 1950s.

Moore said CCC has been a long-time customer and they try to help the college as much as they can.

Richmond Sanitary General Manager Services Shawn Moberg said he could give Buildings and Grounds a small compactor to reduce material waste.

The compactor came to the college broken but was fixed within three months.

King said when the offer was presented he was not hesitant and accepted.

Moore said if they purchased a new trash compactor, it would have cost them an estimated $50,000.

“I am not a professor nor a faculty member, but if I can save money for the campus to make it better, that is where my part comes in,” King said.

The funds saved throughout the years to come will go toward the Buildings and Grounds budget.

At $375 per month for 12 months comes out to $4,500 that King will implement to sustain the campus.

Business Services Supervisor Nick Dimitri said the Buildings and Grounds budget is an estimated $586,000.

King said all the money they used to lease the trash compactors in the past could have paid for two of them but the college does not have that much money to pay upfront for the machine.

He said it was practical to lease it.

The trash compactor helps the two 10-yard trash dumpsters to not fill up so fast causing trash to overflow.

This cuts the cost of getting the trash removed by Richmond Sanitary Services.

When the process of compression starts, trash and cardboard are put into the open space and filled to the top.

Buildings and Grounds worker Mike Mayo said the process takes about 2-5 minutes depending on how much trash is already in there.