Abstract: A waste compactor having a casing with an opening in the front wall thereof with a wheeled cart movable into the casing and holding a container to receive waste material with means for locking the cart to the casing, a loading chute carried by the cart and compacting structure in the casing including a fluid operated movable disc having a downwardly concave contour to have compacting forces acting radially inwardly toward the centerline of the compacting force and exerting a predetermined maximum pressure for a sufficient period of time to impart a "set" to the waste material in the container carried by the cart.