Waste compactors, balers and bin lifters Compact your waste. Squeeze your costs.
We design, build, rent and service heavy-duty compaction equipment at our own factory in Norfolk. You book fewer collections, keep a tidier yard, and get an engineer on site within 24 hours if you ever need one.
Free and nationwide, with no obligation. If a compactor won't pay its way on your site, we'll tell you.
- 98% of breakdowns fixed on the first visit
- Rent new or refurbished, with everything included
- Machines still working after 30 years
“If only all our suppliers were this good.”
Trusted by
- DS Smith
- Casepak
- Mercian Labels
and many of the UK’s major waste contractors
- 98%
- of breakdowns fixed on the engineer’s first visit
- 24h
- maximum response time, and usually the same day
- 30 yrs
- and counting: Casepak machines still in service after three decades
- 7 acres
- of drawing office, fabrication and paint shop at Rymer Point
Four ways in
Buy it, rent it, keep it running.
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Buy new
Designed around your site and built to order in Thetford, with power packs, controls and paint all done in-house.
How we build -
Rent, all-inclusive
Delivery, installation, servicing and breakdown cover in one fixed payment. New from 36 months, refurbished from 12.
See rental options -
Refurbished
Stripped, rebuilt and re-sprayed in your colour to look and perform as new. Available to buy or rent.
Ask what’s in stock -
Service & repairs
Breakdown call-outs, service contracts and high-pressure cleaning, for our machines and most makes of baler.
Service options
Savings estimator
Every collection you don’t book is money back.
A compactor packs the same waste into a fraction of the space. Containers fill more slowly, so you pay for fewer lifts and see fewer lorries on site. Try your own numbers.
Estimated saving on collections
£21,450 a year
- Collections a year now
- 260
- With a compactor
- 65
- Lorry visits you avoid
- 195
a collection you still book one you don’t
Check my numbers at a free surveyIndicative only. Assumes a typical 4:1 compaction ratio for general waste. Real savings depend on your waste, container size, weight limits and haulier rates, and this doesn’t include the cost of the compactor. We’ll work out the full picture, rental included, at your survey.
The range
A machine for every kind of waste.
Designed in our own drawing office and built at Rymer Point, with hoppers, chutes and bin lifters made to fit the way your site works.
Compactors
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Portable compactors
Compactor and container in one sealed unit, lifted away whole by a hook-lift lorry. Rubber D-seals on the doors stop leaks.
View models -
Static compactors
Fixed in place and fed by chute, bin lifter or conveyor, pushing waste into a separate container. Built for high-volume sites.
View models -
Pioneered by Thetford
Traversing compactors
One compactor that moves along a line of containers. We pioneered the technology, and it’s now a fixture on civic amenity sites across the UK.
View models -
Transfer station compactors
Heavy-duty compaction for transfer stations and MRFs, with through-the-wall chutes and hoppers built for fork-truck loading.
View models
Handling & recycling
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Bin lifters & loaders
Lift and tip 120 to 1,350-litre bins at ground or dock level. Comb, boss and sequential lifts, with interlocked safety gates.
View models -
Balers
From compact vertical balers to horizontal mill-size machines. Turn cardboard and plastic into tidy bales you can sell.
View balers -
Bottle breakers
Safely destroys glass bottles down to 45mm across, with acoustic panels fitted as standard to keep it quiet.
View details -
Tyre blockers
Processes up to 440 tyres an hour into blocks of up to 110, ready for flood defences, road sub-base and land reclamation.
View details
Made at Rymer Point
Built to crush. Built to last.
Most compactor suppliers sell machines built by someone else. We’re one of the few UK manufacturers that still designs and builds its own, from hydraulic power packs to control panels. So we can build exactly what your site needs, and fix anything we’ve made.
Bin lifter
Comb, boss or sequential lift to suit your bins, from 120 to 1,350 litres.
Hopper
Made to fit how you load: bins, fork-trucks, conveyors or a chute through the wall.
Compaction ram
Driven by our own power packs, with a high-pressure ram face that packs every load dense.
Safety cage
Safety screens and interlocked gates protect anyone working nearby.
Body & paint
Heavy steel, grit-blasted and painted in-house. Plenty of ours are still working after fifteen to twenty years of daily use.
Discharge door
Rubber D-seals on portable and demountable compactors keep leaks off the road.
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01 Survey
A technical sales engineer visits, measures up and listens. Free, anywhere in the UK.
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02 Design
Our drawing office produces CAD drawings of your installation before anything is built.
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03 Build
Fabrication, power packs, controls, grit-blasting, paint, assembly and testing, all in Thetford.
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04 Install
Delivered, craned into place and commissioned by our own engineers, who train your team on site.
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05 Service
The people who built it look after it for the rest of its working life.
Rent or buy
Rent it with everything included. Or own it outright.
Whichever you choose, it’s the same machine, built in the same factory and looked after by the same engineers.
Every rental includes
- Delivery to your site
- Cranage on site
- Installation and commissioning
- On-site training for your team
- Routine maintenance
- Breakdown call-outs
One payment.
No call-out bills.
Rentals are provided by Thetford Compactors Finance Ltd, part of the Thetford International group.
Got an old compactor? We’ll value it and take it in part-exchange against a new or replacement machine.
Service & breakdowns
Breakdowns fixed fast. Usually first time.
Our own engineers cover the whole country from regional bases, in vans stocked with the parts our machines use. We track every van, so you get a real arrival time instead of a vague window.
- 24h
- Maximum response. Usually the same day.
- 98%
- Of breakdowns fixed on the first visit.
- Live
- Van tracking, so you know exactly when we’ll arrive.
Engineers are CSCS-carded, IOSH-trained and SafeContractor approved.
Breakdown repairs
Same-day call-outs for compactors, bin lifters and balers.
Service contracts
Two four-monthly services and one major service a year. Take one out at installation and your warranty doubles to twelve months.
Fully inclusive maintenance
Call-outs, routine servicing and replacement parts, all covered.
High-pressure cleaning
For compactors, bin lifters, balers, wheeled carts and containers. Part of your contract or a one-off visit.
In their words
Some of our customers have stayed for 45 years.
“From Day 1, Thetford International stood out and impressed us with the extent of their knowledge… The new Compactor and CHEM Container process has now been implemented and has genuinely been a game changer for us.”
“If only all our suppliers were this good.”
“We have been working with James and the team at Thetfords for 45 years now and they have become our main suppliers of compaction equipment… we cannot recommend Thetfords highly enough.”
“DS Smith not only values the high quality machinery of Thetford, but their exemplary service and support through a nationwide coverage of engineers.”
“As a business they are efficient, diligent and approachable, carrying out services and repairs very promptly and with a minimum of fuss.”
Who we build for
Wherever waste piles up.
From a single bin lifter behind a hotel to complete systems for national waste contractors.
Supermarkets & retail
Cardboard and general waste compacted out of sight, behind the store.
Hospitals & healthcare
Hygienic, contained compaction for sites that never close.
Manufacturing, food & print
Systems linked into production lines, with chutes through the wall.
Distribution & logistics
Packaging waste from busy docks, handled by bin lifters and static compactors.
Hotels, offices & shopping centres
Low-noise, tidy compaction for sites with neighbours and visitors.
Councils & civic amenity sites
The traversing compactors we pioneered, serving whole lines of containers.
Waste contractors, MRFs & transfer stations
Robust, rentable kit for many of the UK’s major waste companies.
Universities, prisons & public sector
Compactor skips and secure systems for big, busy estates.
Since 1969
Heavy metal since 1969.
We started out making skips and containers in a 600 sq ft starter unit. Five decades later, more than 50 of us design and build some of the UK’s toughest compaction equipment on a seven-acre site at Rymer Point, Thetford.
1969
Founded as a skip and container maker in a 600 sq ft starter unit.
1977
Compaction takes over. We become Thetford International Compactors.
Pioneers
We pioneer the traversing compactor, now found on civic amenity sites across the UK.
Worldwide
Our compactors ship to Europe, India, Australia and the UAE.
Today
50+ people and seven acres. Every machine still designed, built and serviced by us.
FAQs
Straight answers.
Can’t see your question? Call 01842 890500 or email sales-serv@thetford-int.co.uk and talk to someone who knows the machines.
Should we rent or buy a compactor?
Renting spreads the cost and bundles delivery, installation, servicing and breakdown cover into one payment. New machines rent from 36 months and refurbished from 12. Buying suits businesses that prefer to own the asset, and we’ll value your old compactor in part-exchange. We’ll set out both options at your survey.
How much could a compactor save us?
It depends on your waste, your volumes and what you pay per collection, but most of the saving comes from booking fewer lifts. Try the savings estimator, then we’ll confirm real numbers at a free site survey.
How quickly will an engineer get to us?
Always within 24 hours of your call, and usually the same day. Our vans are tracked, so we’ll give you an exact arrival time, and 98% of breakdowns are fixed on the first visit.
What’s included in a rental?
Delivery, cranage on your site, installation, commissioning, on-site training, maintenance and breakdown call-outs. New equipment is paid quarterly in advance, refurbished equipment monthly.
What warranty do new machines come with?
Six months from installation, extended to twelve if you take out a routine service contract at the same time. That covers two four-monthly services and one major service in the first year.
Do you service equipment you didn’t build?
Yes, we service and maintain most types of baler. For anything else, call our service team and we’ll tell you straight whether we can help.
Can you paint it in our company colours?
Yes. Every new and refurbished machine is grit-blasted and painted at our own factory, in the colour of your choice.
Can you build something bespoke?
That’s the point of building in-house. Our drawing office designs complete waste handling systems, from through-the-wall chutes to integrated recycling lines, and you’ll see drawings before production starts.
Do you cover the whole of the UK?
Yes. Our technical sales team surveys sites nationwide for free, and our service engineers are based regionally across the country. We export too, with Thetford machines working in Europe, India, Australia and the UAE.
Free site survey
See what you could save.
Tell us a little about your site. One of our technical sales engineers will be in touch to arrange a free survey. We’ll measure up, look at your waste and recommend the right machine, or nothing at all if that’s the right answer.
- 1We call you to book a time that suits you.
- 2We visit and survey your site, anywhere in the UK.
- 3You get a written recommendation and drawings.
- 01842 890500
- sales-serv@thetford-int.co.uk
- Rymer Point, Bury Road, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PN
Thanks, we’ve got it.
One of our technical sales team will call you to arrange your free survey. Need us sooner? Call 01842 890500.