Mark-k

Once a day wordpress deletes all trashed items which had been in the trash for more then N days, where N stands for the value of EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS constant which may be defined in wp-config.php file.
This plugin presents a different way to control the number of trashed days. Instead of manually editing wp-config.php which is usually not convenient and somewhat dangerous, you can set the number of days in a settings page. 
In addition there is a tool to empty the cache from Items older the a specified number of days.
Usage: 
Get to the settings page via the menu “Options” >> “Empty trash” 
Get to the delete trash tool page via the menu “Tools” >> “Empty trash”
Network considerations: 
The plugin was not tested in a network installation, but it should work gibing the individual site admin a control over his trash which is possibly different then other sites on the network. 
The plugin do not have network wide settings
Important: 
For better or worse the plugin employs exactly the same deleting algorithm used by the wordpress version running the site.
Limitations: 
The plugin will not be able to function well if you have EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS set in your wp-confing.php

Trash emptier

Provides a configurable control over the trash emptying algorithm wordpress uses without changing wp-config.php

Hugh Lashbrooke

“Quick Empty Trash” is a small utility plugin that saves you time when emptying the trash for any post type. It adds an ’empty trash’ button to every post type’s list table, so that you can empty the trash for that post type without having to load the list of trashed posts first. This helps if you have a very slow-loading dashboard or if you just feel like saving yourself an extra page load in order to perform a simple action.
There are no settings to configure – just activate the plugin and the button will appear for you.

Quick Empty Trash

Adds an 'empty trash' button to all post type dashboard tables - saves you from needing to load the trash list before being able to empty it …

Trash emptier vs Quick Empty Trash