Wrangell Sentinel -

Loose trash goes in and comes out in compact, 50-cubic-foot bales, strapped up and ready to ship out of state.

The combination masher and baler has been at work at Wrangell’s trash transfer station since late October. Rather than shipping out loose garbage in open-top containers, Wrangell can now load the bales into closed containers.

Alaska Marine Lines, which hauls trash out of Wrangell and several other Southeast communities, had told the towns that it needed everyone to switch to closed containers after a couple of fires in open containers aboard its freight barges.

AML carries the tr...