US3686889A

US3686889A - System for completely disposing of refuse

Info

Publication number: US3686889A
Application number: US65417A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard D Harza
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-08-20
Filing date: 1970-08-20
Publication date: 1972-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-29

Abstract

A system for disposing of refuse which comprises the steps of: transferring the refuse from various remote locations to a central collection point; moistening the refuse in the event the same does not contain sufficient moisture to allow adherence when frozen; compressing the refuse; freezing the refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting the pellets to a final destination, preferably a land-fill operation.

Description

llarza BEST AVAILABLE COPY Aug. 2*). 1972 SYSTEM F OP. COMPLETELY DISPOSING OF REFUSE lnventor: Richard D. Harm, 400 W. Madison St Chicago, [11. 60606 Filed: Aug. 20, 1970 Appl. No.: 65,417

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 677,206, Oct. 23, 1967, Pat. No. 3,514,969. which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 29,805, April 20, 1971 U.S. .......62/62, 62/341, 100/229 A Int. Cl ..F25d 25/00 Field of Search ..62/62, 341; 100/229 A References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/ l 961 Franklin ..62/62 7/1962 Palmer ..62/334 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Tn'Pak Refuse Disposal" Page 1- 4 'uhlication 10/23/68.

Primary Examiner-Meyer Perlin Assistant Examiner-Ronald Cr Capossela Attorney-Olson, Trexler, Wolters and Bushnell A system for disposing "of refuse which COlT'Pl'lSCS the steps of: transferring the refuse from various remote locations to a central collection point; moistening the refuse in the event the same does not contain sufiicient moisture to allow adherence when frozen; compressing the refuse; freezing the refuse so as to fonn dense pellets; and transporting the pellets to a final destination, preferably a land-fill operation.

ABSTRACT 12 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 .889 BEST AVAlLABLE COPY SYSTEM FOR COhldIgLETELY DISPOSING OF dividual resident's automobile) which cannot withstand FUSE REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 677,206, now US. Pat. No. 3,514,969, filed on Oct. 23, I967, and titled FREEZING APPARATUS FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL; is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Ser. No. 29,805,.filed Apr. 20, 1971, and titled REFUSE DISPOSING UNIT" and is related to Ser. No. 12,416, filed Feb. l8, 1970, and titled METHOD FOR GARBAGE DISPOSAL which is a continuation of Ser. No. 824,874, filed May 15, I969, now abandoned. Said abandoned application is a division ofU.S. Pat. No. 3,514,969.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the disposal of refuse or garbage, and more particularly to a complete system for transporting refuse from-various remote locations to a central collection point, storing and processing the refuse at said central point, and thereafter transferring said processed refuse to an ultimate destination.

Presently, when a housewife, etc., wants to dispose of refuse, she does so in a garbage can or container located on the premises. Because the garbage is exposed to the atmosphere, in not too long a period after being placed in the can it begins to decay and become rancid. As the garbage decays an offensive odor is given off thereby, and vermin tend to collect about the garbage accompanied by the breeding of bacteria and the possible spread of disease. Furthermore, the refuse or garbage gathered in these cans or containers is mostly commonly removed by trucks intowhich loose or partially wrapped garbage is placed. Usually these trucks have an offensive odor, and as they travel from pickup-to-pickup sometimes lose particles of garbage on the public thoroughfares.

Most the the garbage and refuse picked up by the aforementioned trucks ends up in a typical open dump which allows for the collection of more vermin, an increase in the breeding of bacteria and further odor. However, more recently, there has been a tendency to replace the open dump with a land-fill operation, which generally consists of dumping and burying the collected refuse in the earth. While this method has obvious advantages over the open dump, there are many problems created and left unsolved. For example, most people have not, as of yet, accepted the concept of land-fill as being an appreciable advantage over the typical garbage dump. As a result, most land-fill operations take place in rural areas or, in any case, great distances from the urban or rural community area it is serving. This, of course, means that a large amount of loose or partially wrapped refuse is lost in transit. Also, cost in transporting the refuse from collecting points in the urban communities to the land-fill site is just as expensive as that required in the past since such a method requires that each individual truck does its own transporting.

Another major problem created with the land-fill method now in use is the necessity for providing well paved and therefore highly expensive roads to the landfill sites. This is required since most transporting is done by conventionally manufactured trucks (or the inthe ty ical rural type unimproved dirt road. Such a problem would not be of great import if only we road was required. However, due to the nature of the landfill method of processing refuse, the land-fill sites is continuously changing, which thereby necessitates continuously changing routes thereto.

Another major deficiency with the aforementioned land-fill type refuse processing method resides in the inefficiency inherent therewith. Specifically, because of the odor, vermin and bacteria breeding problems, the refuse must be buried practically immediately upon receipt thereof, which, as may be evident, is quite a time-consuming task. Accordingly, it has been found that this method requires that all refuse to be delivered to the land-fill sites be so delivered in the morning in order that the same may be buried that afternoon, which, in turn, prevents afternoon refuse collection or pickup. This method of equalizing the inflow rate to the outflow rate, of course, provides little, if any, work for the land-fill operators during the morning hours (when refuse is being collected) while providing little, if any, work for the initial collectors during the afternoon hours (when refuse must be buried). Therefore, while both are generally being paid for a full days work, they, for all practicality can do only a half of a day's work.

In order to deal with the aforementioned problems and deficiencies, the prior art has proposed the utilization of a central collection point where the garbage or refuse would be compressed and thereafter transported to the land-fill sites. While this might rectify some of the minor pitfalls, it does not take into account the major deficiencies. For example, since the mere compressing of refuse does not alleviate the tendency of the refuse to give off odor, collect vermin or breed bacteria, this central point would necessarily have to be located as far away from the area it is serving as the open dump or land-fill operation, thereby causing the same problems inherent therewith. In addition, since such a central collecting point would have to be open to the atmosphere (similar to the open dump), in order to prevent the same from acting as a typical open garbage dump, the refuse would have to be removed therefrom, practically upon receipt thereof. This matching of inflow rate to outflow rate creates the same problems of inefficiency as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTlON Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a method for completely disposing of refuse which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art refuse collection or disposing methods as mentioned above.

It is yet another general object of this invention to provide a method for completely disposing of refuse which is convenient, neat, sanitary, and economical.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a method for transferring refuse from various remote locations to a central collecting point, storing and processing the refuse at said point, and thereafter transporting the processed refuse to an ultimate destination for use in land-fill operations.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for completely disposing of refuse which utilizes a central collecting area and a land-fill area. both of which may be located near the urban area they remote households, hospitals, or other such buildings,-

to a central collecting location which is preferably located near the area being served; dumping the refuse into a refrigerated hopper provided at the central collecting location; storing the collected refuse in a frozen state; compressing and freezing the refuse into dense pellets; and utilizing special all-purpose trucks for transporting the pellets to a land-fill operation where they may be used as land-fill.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a refuse disposing system constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the central collecting station utilized with the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial side elevational view of a portion ofthe central collecting station of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a modified portion of the central collecting station of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION:

Turning now to the drawings, and particularly FIG. I, a complete system for processing refuse in accordance with the present invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The system contemplates using various garbage or refuse trucks 12 or individual automobiles 13 for picking up refuse which has accumulated at different remote dwellings 14, plants 16 and hospitals 18, or other refuse accumulating areas, whereupon the refuse is transported therefrom to a central collecting station 20.

The refuse, which may be of practically any kind, in-' cluding food wastes, tin cans, metal bottle tops, paper boxes, glass, plastic, small metal objects, and the like, is stored and processed at central collecting station 20 in a manner to be described hereinafter. Thereafter, a special heat insulated all-purpose truck 22, which is constructed so as to easily travel on all types of terrain, preferably transports the processed refuse from station 20 to a land-fill sites 24 where it is buried in the typical land-fill manner.

The collecting station 20 is preferably located as close as possible to the urban or rural'community it is serving, such as the peripheral edge of town. In this manner, there is less chance oflosing particles of refuse during transit while simultaneously minimizing transportation cost. For the same reasons, the land-fill sites 24 is also preferably located at the peripheral edge of town and adjacent the central collecting station 20. However, since this is not always possible, due to some BEST AVAILABLE COPY cummunities' skepticism towards land-fill ope ations, the nvention, herein disclosed and claimed, tontemplates at more remote location for the land-fill sites.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, central collecting station 20 is completely circumscribed by a paved or otherwise improved road 26 extending a sufficient distance radially outwardly from the peripheral edge of the collecting station so that the trucks 12 may individually or simultaneously enter the road from their corresponding access roads 28 and turn around, back against station 20 and unload the refuse carried thereby in a manner to be described with respect to FIG. 2. Because the system 10 contemplates using special all-purpose trucks 22 for transferring the processed refuse from collecting station 20 to land-fill sites 24, as opposed to conventionally manufactured trucks 12 or even automobiles 13, the route 30 leading from the central collecting station to the land-fill sites may be an unpaved and unimproved road or no road at all. This, of course, is quite convenient and, in addition, minimizes operational expenses, since, as stated above, such a route is continuously changing as the land-fill operation progresses, and would otherwise require continuously constructed and highly expensive roadways.

Turning now to FIG. 2, the central collecting station 20 is shown in detail and includes a conical hopper 32 which is preferably capable of storing at least 1 full day's (for example 2'to 10 tons) worth of refuse accumulated by the community for which it is serving. The hopper is vertically positioned entirely within the ground so that its larger open end is substantially flush with the circular roadway 26. In this manner, the trucks 12 may easily back against the hopper, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for unloading the refuse therein. In this regard, a circular rail or other type of limiting structure 34 may be constructed around the hopper for aiding in properly positioning the trucks for unloading operations, as well as for preventing the latter from accidentally backing into the hopper.

A plurality of conventionally operated freezer coils 36 or other suitable freezing means are mounted around or otherwise provided with hopper 32 for maintaining the atmosphere within the hopper at a temperature substantially below the freezing temperature. In this manner, refuse which is placed within the hopper may be stored, in a frozen state, without the fear of odor, vermin or the breeding of bacteria. As a result, the central collecting station may be placed adjacent the community it is serving without the fear of comm unal protest.

Positioned below hopper 32 and in refuse receiving relationship therewith, is a compressor assembly 38 having a housing 40 for receiving therein the refuse from hopper 32 and a compressor mechanism 42 for compressing the refuse so received. The compressor assembly further includes conventionally operated freezer coils 44 or other suitable freezing means mounted around or otherwise provided with the assembly, so as to maintain the atmosphere within the housing 40 at a temperature substantially below freezing temperature, whereupon the compressed refuse may be either simultaneously or shortly thereafter frozen into dense pellets.

It is to be understood, that while freezer coils 36 and 44 are used in the aforementioned manner and for the aforementioned reasons, any type of freezing means may be provided.

The exact structure of assembly 38 is of no import to the invention herein disclosed and claimed so long as it is capable of compressing and freezing the refuse into dense pellets or, as illustrated in FIG. 21, compressing, extruding and freezing the refuse through an opening 46 in housing 40, whereupon the frozen extruded refuse is broken into individual pellets 48, in a manner to be described below. In either case, reference is made to my copending application titled Refuse Disposing Unit," Ser. No. 29,805 fled Apr. 20, 1970, where the various types of compressor assemblies, contemplated by this invention, are illustrated in detail.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the refuse within housing 40 of assembly 38 is compressed, frozen and extruded out opening 46, whereupon it is broken into individual pellets 48 by one of a plurality of buckets 50, in a manner to be described with respect to FIG. 3. The plurality of buckets 50 are part of a motor driven angled elevator 52 which carries the buckets from a point adjacent opening 46 for receiving the pellets to a point above ground and substantially away from hopper 20 where the pellets are automatically dropped into the truck 22 .for transport to land-fill sites 24. The elevator per se forms no part of the invention herein disclosed and claimed, and therefore may be of any conventional type.

Turning to FIG. 3, the position at which the extruded frozen refuse is transferred to elevator 52 is shown in detail. Each of the buckets 50 is shown to include a laterally extending, inwardly angled blade 54 formed with the buckets forward edge, the blade severing a portion 48 of the extruded refuse causing the same to fall into the bucket for transport to truck 22.

it should be noted that the pellets 48 do not necessarily have to be transported directly to truck 22 but may be allowed to fall to the ground area designated by the reference numeral 56. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a

housing 58 may be provided around elevator 52 and ground area 56, along with suitable freezing means such as freezer coils 60 which provide a freezing atmosphere within the housing so as to store the pellets 48 in their frozen condition while waiting to be transported by truck 22.

Referring now to FIG. 4, attention is directed to a modified version 62 of system 10. Modified version 62 is identical to that of system 10, except for compressor assembly 38, storage chamber 58, and the method in which the pellets are transferred to truck 22. Specifically, modified version 62 includes a compressor assembly 64 having a housing 66 and identical compressor mechanism 67, for receiving and compressing refuse from the hopper 32, in the same manner as described above. However, the refuse within the housing 66 is compressed and frozen into solid pellets therein rather than being extruded in the manner described above. Once formed, these dense pellets are released from within housing 66 through a bottom trap door 68, where they enter a cold storage chamber 70. Both the cold storage chamber 70 and the compressor assembly 64 include freezer coils 72, or other suitable freezing means for maintaining the atmosphere within these chambers at substantially below the freezing temperature.

Page 2 of '3 BEST AVALABLE COPY After a desired accumulation of pellets within storage chamber 70, an appropriate truck 74 may be driven along a provided inclined access road 76 to the storage area. The truck 74 preferably includes an L- shaped rotary fork lift 75 for transporting the pellets to ground level where they may be transported to truck 22 for delivery to land-fill sites 24.

With the system 10 described in the aforementioned manner, attention is now directed to the method provided by the system. Specifically, as refuse is accumulated within the community being served, this refuse is picked up in the usual manner, i.e., by conventional trucks 12, individual automobiles 13, or the like, and transported to central collecting station 20, which allows for a number of such trucks or automobiles to simultaneously unload thereat. The refuse is dumped or otherwise unloaded into hopper 32 where it is stored in a frozen state while awaiting further processing. in this regard, water, dry ice, or other suitable mc ture, may be added to the stored refuse for speeding up the freezing process.

The stored frozen refuse gradually gravitationally enters within housing 40 of compressor assembly 38, where it is compressed and frozen, or compressed, frozen and extruded into dense pellets which are ultimately transferred to special heat insulated trucks 22 for transferring to land-fill sites 24. The pellets may be transported directly to the truck 22 by utilization of elevator 52, as described with respect to FIG. 2. or they may be transferred, via the elevator, to housing 58 and stored thereat until the truck 22 is ready to transport the pellets to the land-fill sites. On the other hand, as seen in FIG. 4, the pellets may be gravitationally dropped through a trap door 68 in modified compressor assembly 64 and into storage area 70 where they are stored in a frozen state. The fork lift truck 74 may then be provided for transporting the stored pellets to truck 22 for further transport to land-fill sites 24.

As stated above, the usual land-fill type operation requires approximately half of a day for burying the refuse at the land-till sites. In the past, this meant that refuse had to be received, for example, before noon, so as to thereby allow the received refuse to be adequately buried. This, of course, in turn meant, as stated above, that the refuse collecting operation had to cease well before noon. in addition, the landfill operation could not begin until the initial processed refuse was received thereat, which was generally not until late morning.

With the method herein disclosed, the refuse collecting operation may continue throughout the day, since hopper 32 is capable of receiving at least 1 full day's accumulation of refuse. Because the refuse is stored in its frozen state, the same may be left within hopper 32 throughout the night without the fear of odor, vermin or breeding of bacteria. In this regard, the stored refuse may be compressed and frozen into dense pellets throughout the night if desired and stored in their frozen state until morning, whereupon it can be easily transported to the land-fill sites 24 by truck 22. In this manner, processed refuse can be transported to landfill sites 24 simultaneously with the collection and transport of newly accumulated refuse, so that both procedures may continue throughout the day without any appreciable lag time.

Page of 5 While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown, it should be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto, since many modifications may be made. It is, therefore, contemplated to cover by the present application any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scopeof the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said nominally heterogeneous refuse from various remote locations to a central location; unloading said refuse into a central hopper; moistening said refuse in the event said refuse does n t contain sufficient moisture to allow adherence when frozen; compressing said refuse to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact; freezing said refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting said pellets to a final destination.

2. A method according to claim 1 including the step of freezing said refuse prior to compressing the same.

3. A method according to claim 1 including the step of storing said pellets prior to transferring the same to said final destination.

' 4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said refuse is substantially simultaneously transferred from said remote locations to said central location.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said refuse is transported from said remote locations to said central location in a vehicular manner.

6. A method according to claim. 1 wherein said dense pellets are transported to said final destination in a vehicular fashion.

7. The method according to claim 1 in which the central location is disposed below ground level, the steps of compressing and freezing being effected below ground lc-el, including the further steps oflowering the refuse below ground level with the aid of gravity, and subsequently raising the pellets substantially to ground level for transporting said pellets to a final destination.

8. A method according to claim l including the step of pre-chilling said refuse prior to compressing the same.

9. A method according to claim 1 including the step of storing said pellets prior to transporting the same to said final destination.

10. A method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said refuse from various locations within a community to a central collecting station located at the peripheral edge of said community; compressing said refuse to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact and freezing said refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting said pellets to a land-fill site for use in a landfill operation.

a 11. A method according to claim 10 including the step of selecting said land-fill site at a location adjacent said cen ral collecting station.

12. The method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: depositing said nominally heterogeneous refuse at a collecting station, freezing said refuse at said collecting station,

thereafter compressing the frozen refuse at the collecting station to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact, subsequently maintaining the compressed rt eguse at below freezing temperature to insure reezrng ereof into dense pe lets, an transporting said pellets to a final destination.

Q Q i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Patent No Dated Richard D. Harza g 1 0f 5 Inventor(s) It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5 through 8 should be deleted and the columns as shown on the attached sheets substituted therefor.

Signed and Scaled this Arrest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Allesling ff Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks aforementioned reasons, any type of freezing means may be provided.

The exact structure of assembly 38 is of no import to the invention herein disclosed and claimed so long as it.

iscapable of compressing and freezing the refuse into dense pellets or, as illustrated in FIG. 21, compressing, extruding and freezing the refuse through an opening 46 in housing 4i), whereupon the frozen extruded refuse is broken into individual pellets 48, in a manner to be described below. in either case, reference is made to my copending application titled Refuse Disposing Page 2 of 3 lated within the community being served, this refuse is Unit, Ser. No. 29,805 filed Apr. 20, 1970, where the various types of compressor assemblies, contemplated by this invention, are illustrated in detail.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the refuse within housing 40 of assembly 38 is compressed, frozen and extruded out opening 46, whereupon it is broken into individual pellets 48 by one of a plurality of buckets 50, in a manner to be described with respect to FIG. 3. The plurality of buckets 50 are part of a motor driven angled elevator 52 which carries the buckets from a point adjacent opening 46 for receiving the pellets to a point above ground and substantially away from hopper where the pellets are automatically dropped into the truck 22 for transport to land-fill sites 24. The elevator per se forms no part of the invention herein disclosed and type.

Turning to 2 16. 3, the position at which the extruded frozen refuse is transferred to elevator 52 is shown in detail. Each of the buckets 50 is shown to include a claimed, and therefore may be of any conventional laterally extending, inwardly angled blade 54 formed with the buckets forward edge, the blade severing a portion 48 of the extruded refuse causing the same to fall into the bucket for transport to truck 22.

it should be noted that the pellets 48 do not necessarily have to be transported directly to truck 22 but may be allowed to fall to the ground area designated by the reference numeral 56. As illustrated in FIG. 2, a housing 58 may be provided around elevator 52 and ground area 56, along with suitable freezing means such as freezer coils 60 which provide a freezing atmosphere within the housing so as to store the pellets 48 in their frozen condition while waiting to be transported by truck 22.

Referring now to FIG. 4, attention is directed to a modified version 62 of system if). Modified version 62 is identical to that of system 10, except for compressor assembly 38, storage chamber 58, and the method in which the pellets are transferred to truck 22. Specifically, modified version 62 includes a compressor assembly d4 having a housing 66 and identical compressor mechanism or, for receiving and compressing refuse from the hopper 32, in the same manner as described above. However, the refuse within the housing 66 is compressed and frozen into solid pellets therein rather than being extruded in the manner described above. Once formed, these dense pellets are released from within housing 66 through a bottom trap door 68, where they enter a cold storage chamber 70. Both the cold storage chamber 76 and the compressor assembly 66 include freezer coils 72, or other suitable freezing means for maintaining the atmosphere within these chambers at substantially below the freezing temperature.

picked up in the usual manner, i.e., by conventional trucks 12, individual automobiles 13, or the like, and transported to central collecting station 20, which allows for a number of such trucks or automobiles to simultaneously unload thereat. The refuse is dumped or otherwise unloaded into hopper 32 where it is stored in a frozen state while awaiting further processing. In this regard, water, dry ice, or other suitable moisture, may be added to the stored refuse for speeding up the freezmg process.

The stored frozen refuse gradually gravitationally enters within housing 40 of compressor assembly 38, where it is compressed and 'frozen, or compressed, frozen and extruded into dense pellets which are ultimately transferred to special heat insulated trucks 22 for transferring to land-fill sites 24. The pellets may be transported directly to the truck 22 by utilization of elevator 52, as described with respect to FIG. 2, or they may be transferred, via the elevator, to housing 58 and stored thereat until the truck 22 is ready to transport the pellets to the land-fill sites. On the other hand, as seen in FIG. 4, the pellets may be gravitationally dropped through a trap door 68 in modified compressor assembly 64 and into storage area 70 where they are stored in a frozen state. The fork lift truck 74 may then be provided for transporting the stored pellets to truck 22 for further transport to land-fill sites 24.

As stated above, the usual land-fill type operation requires approximately half of a day for burying the refuse at the land-fill sites. In the past, this meant that refuse had to be received, for example, before noon, so as to thereby allow the received refuse to be adequately buried. This, of course, in turn meant, as stated above, that the refuse collecting operation had to cease well before noon. in addition, the landfill operation could not begin until the initial processed refuse was received .thereat, which was generally not until late morning.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown, it should be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto, since many modifications may be made. It is, therefore, contemplated to cover by the present application any such modifications as fall within-the true spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

l. A method of disposing of nominally heterogene ous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said nominally heterogeneous refuse from various remote locations to a central location; unloading said refuse into a central hopper, moistening said refuse in the event said refuse does not contain sufficient moisture to allow adherence when frozen; compressing said refuse to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact; freezing said refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting said pellets to a final destination.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said refuse is substantially simultaneously transferred from said remote locations to said central location.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein said dense pellets are transported to said final destination in a vehicular fashion.

7. The method according to claim 1 in which the central location is disposed below ground level, the steps of Page 5 of 3 compressing and freezing being effected below ground level, including the further steps of lowering the refuse below ground level with the aid of gravity, and sub sequently raising the pellets substantially to ground level for transporting said pellets to a final destination. 8. A method according to claim 1 including the step of pre-c'hilling said refuse prior to compressing the same.

10. A method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said refuse from various locations within a community to a ing said nominally heterogeneous refuse at a collecting 7 station, freezing said refuse at said collecting station,

thereafter compressing the frozen refuse at the collect ing station to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact, subsequently maintaining the compressed re use at below freezin reezmg ereo into dense pe lets, an

said pellets t0 a final destination.

temperature to insure transporting

Claims

1. A method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said nominally heterogeneous refuse from various remote locations to a central location; unloading said refuse into a central hopper; moistening said refuse in the event said refuse does not contain sufficient moisture to allow adherence when frozen; compressing said refuse to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact; freezing said refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting said pellets to a final destination.

7. The method according to claim 1 in which the central location is disposed below ground level, the steps of compressing and freezing being effected below ground level, including the further steps of lowering the refuse below ground level with the aid of gravity, and subsequently raising the pellets substantially to ground level for transporting said pellets to a final destination.

8. A method according to claim 1 including the step of pre-chilling said refuse prior to compressing the same.

10. A method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: transporting said refuse from various locations within a community to a central collecting station located at the peripheral edge of said community; compressing said refuse to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact and freezing said refuse so as to form dense pellets; and transporting said pellets to a land-fill site for use in a land-fill operation.

11. A method according to claim 10 including the step of selecting said land-fill site at a location adjacent said central collecting station.

12. The method of disposing of nominally heterogeneous refuse comprising the steps of: depositIng said nominally heterogeneous refuse at a collecting station, freezing said refuse at said collecting station, thereafter compressing the frozen refuse at the collecting station to bring individual portions thereof into intimate contact, subsequently maintaining the compressed refuse at below freezing temperature to insure freezing thereof into dense pellets, and transporting said pellets to a final destination.