San Diego Dump Fees & Disposal Guide for Junk Removal Operators
Miramar Landfill FY2026 rates from $35–$247/ton by material type. C&D at $230/ton demands aggressive sorting on every job.
Use the guidance with your local numbers.
Resource pages explain the planning model, but local disposal rates, labor costs, truck setup, service area, and customer demand still decide the final operating choice.
Typical disposal costs
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Cost-saving playbook
Track dump fees per job and per facility in ScaleYourJunk to monitor your disposal cost as a percentage of revenue. At $97–$230/ton depending on material type, San Diego operators who do not actively manage sorting and routing will see disposal costs eat 15%+ of gross revenue — far above the 6% target. The platform logs every dump run so you can compare material-specific costs and identify where sorting creates the biggest margin improvement.
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Miramar Landfill (City of San Diego) has the lowest transparent rates in the metro: $97/ton for city MSW, $103/ton for non-city MSW, $35/ton for clean wood, and $70/ton for green material. Private landfills Otay and Sycamore (both Republic Services) are estimated at $100+/ton but do not publicly post rates — call for current commercial pricing. For small loads under 1 ton, Miramar's Tier 1 flat rate is $71 (city) or $82 (non-city). The cheapest per-ton rate in the metro is clean wood at Miramar at $35/ton — sort aggressively.
C&D debris at Miramar Landfill costs $230/ton for City of San Diego waste and $247/ton for non-city waste — making it one of the most expensive C&D disposal markets in the country. For a Tier 2 load (1–3 tons), the flat rate is $337 city or $359 non-city. For a Tier 3 load (3–5 tons), it jumps to $1,461 city or $1,568 non-city. Sorting is essential: clean wood drops to $35/ton (saving $195/ton) and green material drops to $70/ton (saving $160/ton). Always separate clean materials from mixed C&D before arriving at the scale.
Miramar Landfill is open Monday through Saturday — check for seasonal hour variations. Closed Sundays and major holidays (New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas). Critical rules: self-tipping loads only after 4PM and no hand unloads after 4PM. Plan your last dump run to arrive well before 4PM. Otay Landfill is open Monday through Friday 7AM–4:30PM and Saturday 7AM–3PM, closed Sundays. Sycamore is Monday through Friday 7AM–4:30PM and Saturday 7:30AM–3PM, closed Sundays.
No. Miramar Landfill does not accept cash. Payment options are credit/debit cards (Visa and Mastercard only) and checks payable to the City Treasurer. For commercial operators, the best option is to set up a Deferred Payment Account (DPA) with a $250 minimum surety bond — apply online and the account is active in 1–2 business days. A DPA eliminates per-trip payment friction and provides a billing record for expense tracking. This is particularly important for operators running multiple dump runs per day.
Miramar Landfill is expected to close by approximately 2031. When it closes, all San Diego County waste will shift to private landfills — primarily Otay and Sycamore, both owned by Republic Services. Private landfill rates are already estimated at $100+/ton versus Miramar's $97/ton city rate, and rates will likely increase further as the remaining facilities absorb redirected volume. Operators should build rate escalation clauses into long-term commercial contracts now to protect margins against the inevitable post-Miramar price increases.
The Miramar Buy-Back Recycling Center at the landfill entrance (phone: (858) 268-8971) is the most convenient option — sell scrap metals and CRV containers before entering the disposal area on the same trip. SA Recycling has multiple San Diego County locations for larger quantities and better rates on regular deliveries. At $97–$103/ton disposal costs, every pound diverted to scrap recycling improves margin. California scrap rules require photo ID for all transactions and check payment for copper and certain high-theft materials per Penal Code §21608.5.
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Track Every Dump Fee Automatically
ScaleYourJunk logs disposal costs per job, per facility, and per material type. At $97–$247/ton in San Diego, untracked dump fees destroy margins faster than anywhere else in the country.