Abstract: A refuse compactor comprises a container for the receipt of refuse and a compactor unit which inserts refuse into the container and compact the refuse and seeks to overcome the disadvantage of previously proposed compactors regarding the closure of a full container. For this purpose the container of the refuse compactor includes a pivoted door which is releaseably connected to an actuator of the compactor unit and which is moved by the actuator to perform the refuse insertion and compaction operations. Once the container is full, the door is released from the actuator and locked to the remainder of the container to close the full container. The compactor can handle a wide variety of commercial and industrial refuse.