A built-in bale ejector for use in a trash compactor comprises an elongated band which is fastened at one end to the floor portion of the compactor cabinet at a front edge thereof and which passes between the floor and a box in which the refuse is to be compacted and then up the inside rear wall of the compactor to a predetermined height. The compactor includes a vertically movable compaction plate which can be driven in reciprocal fashion downward into the box to compress the refuse therein and upward to a "ready" position. When it is desired to eject a filled box, a spring-loaded take-up reel mechanism coupled to the compaction plate can be latched against rotation by a locking mechanism. When so locked, the return stroke of the compaction plate pulls the band tight and thus urges the box filled with the compacted trash to be ejected out through the door opening of the compactor cabinet. In an alternative embodiment, the entire spring wheel assembly is replaced with a high torque motor whose output shaft drives a cylindrical take-up reel on which the band may be wound.