Putnam County Schools investing $48,000 to replace the aging trash compactor at Cookeville High School to streamline waste management.
Putnam County Schools Deputy Director Tim Martin said the current equipment has reached the end of its functional life after years of frequent repairs. Martin said the school system received professional advice that the unit can no longer be repaired
“It would get stuck where it wouldn’t compact and if you’ve ever been to the dump around here and taken trash to one of the compactors, you know, you just can’t put trash in it,” Martin said. “So then we’re kind of stuck there without being able to get the trash out of the school building.”
Martin said the compactor is located at the loading dock on the back side of the school building. Martin said the high school is the only facility in the district that utilizes a compactor because of the high volume of waste generated daily.
“Everybody else just has dumpsters, but if we had just dumpsters at Cookeville High School, we’d probably have to have 20 of them back there, so that’s why there’s a compactor,” Martin said.
Martin said the old unit frequently malfunctioned by getting stuck, which prevented staff from being able to compact the waste.
“So when you’re feeding, you know, a couple thousand kids a day in the cafeteria, that’s a lot of trash that builds up,” Martin said.
Martin said the school system will manage the waste through alternative methods to prevent accumulation and odors while waiting for the new equipment. Martin said the district has already secured permission for the purchase and will own the unit rather than leasing it through a waste service.
“I think it’s something that we’re going to have to order, so we are going to have to limp along here a little bit until we can get the new one in there,” Martin said. “But we hope to have it installed before school starts next year.”