> Why does the trash compactor compact trash so slowly and with such difficulty once the resistance of a thin metal rod is introduced? Surely metal Death Star pieces are one of the main items of trash in need of compacting. It thus stands to reason that the trash compactor should have been better designed to handle the problem of a skinny piece of metal.
Did we watch the same film? It doesn't appear the metal rod did anything, as far as I can see:
Yeah, the rod did nothing. I also think it would be odd to assume that this thing is single-phase.
As other have suggested, compaction is potentially needed to transport waste from the deeper parts. But there are several security considerations of just ejecting trash as-is from a high security area. I imagine a trash compactor is also a way to destroy the trash to prevent the old “spy tosses a data device into the prisoner cell block waste chute and have his allies follow the death star to pick it up during ejection”.
Did we watch the same film? It doesn't appear the metal rod did anything, as far as I can see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u3QInIMVME