Abstract: Mounted in a frame are: (a) a hopper having at its base an opening and slots delimiting optionally articulated, inclined and vertical walls which open into the opening; (b) an inclined conveyor or chute for supplying the hopper with containers through a lock; and (c) a tool controlling one or a plurality of knives for cutting the container, which tool is mounted in the frame so as to be displaced against the containers and is provided with a manual actuator, the knife having a contour adapted to the shape of the containers and being positioned so as to partly and transversely sever the containers in the medial region of their bodies; (d) the tool including a ram for opening and flattening the containers against the inclined walls of the hopper, after the containers have been cut by the knife, while causing the containers to be emptied into a receptacle placed under the hopper.