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 The Waste Compactor surrounded by houses. | ||||
| Construction Cost |  800 ·  4 ·  5 ·  12
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| Maintenance Cost |  +50 ·  -40 ·  -5 | |||
| Size | 3x6 | |||
| Hitpoints | 1000 | |||
| Influence Radius | 12 tiles | |||
| Unlock | 750 Tycoon Employees | |||
The Waste Compactor is the first Tycoon building available that will increase the ecobalance of an island. Its effectiveness increases as more residents live within its area of influence (maximum productivity is reached when 650 inhabitants live in radius, 50% @ 200 inhabitants). However, like all Tycoon ecobalance buildings, it cannot raise the ecobalance of an island above 0.
Waste compactors have many large benefits over other ecobalance buildings. First and most obvious are its rock bottom maintenance cost and energy use. At 70% efficiency the overall cleanup per cost is on par with a Deacidification Station + Coal power, and surpasses all options from there. Second, it is unique in not using any Mine or River slots, and does not have a competing influence radius like all other ecobalance buildings. It will supplement any other option without issue. Third, it takes up the least island space when compared to other options supplied with bulky Coal+Excavator power. Lastly it's cheap and easy to place, using mere concrete and demanding no change in city layouts. All these advantages make the Waste Compactor an obvious choice and first line of defense against pollution.
Still not convinced? Add Eco tech to the mix. The Waste Compactor neutralizes negative pollution, and frees up space for Weather Control Stations to put it in the green. It is easy to bring the main island's ecobalance into the positive this way, without ever touching valuable resource spots or using Tech research.
The Waste Compactor and Eco Thermal Power Station does not use the same influence. Which mean you can have the same houses within one another and they do not interfere with each other. This can be useful later in the game when you have both technologies available.
Upgrades 
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| Type | Quality | Icon | Name | Effect | Description | Costs |
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| Interim waste storage | : +20%
| Minimizes waste. | 5,000 ·  15 ·  1
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| Heterogenous catalysis | : -30%
| Lower firing temperatures, same result! | 10,000 ·  200 ·  20 · 30 · 1 ·  2
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| Atmospheric fluidized bed combustion | : +30% : -40%
| Increased efficiency due to smaller particles. | 22,500 · 450 · 45 · 70 · 4 · 2 · 1
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| Compact combustion process | : +40% : -50%
| Condensed phase combustion, reduced emissions. | 30,000 · 600 · 60 · 90 · 2 · 2
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