Field notes / Waco
Hauling it yourself: the Waco landfill and transfer station
Driving the load to the City is often the cheapest way out of a cleanout, and the easiest route to get wrong. The two facilities keep different hours, take different materials and bill by the ton once the resident allowance is gone.
Quick decision: the landfill in Axtell accepts brush and concrete; the in-town transfer station does not. Saturday closing is early at both and neither opens on Sunday. Four drops of up to 2,000 pounds a year carry no additional charge for a qualifying Waco household; after that the scale decides the bill.
Two facilities, and their hours differ
The City of Waco Landfill is at 4730 TK Parkway in Axtell, 76624. The posted hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. It is closed on Sunday.
The City of Waco Transfer Station is at 6171 S. University Parks Drive, 76706, which the City’s announcement describes as right here in town. Its weekday window is wider, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its Saturday window is earlier and shorter, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. It is closed on Sunday too. Both schedules come from the City’s landfill and transfer station page, retrieved October 4, 2026.
Note which of the two closes first on a Saturday. The nearer gate shuts at 11 a.m. and the one out in Axtell half an hour later, so check the clock against the facility you actually need rather than the one you remember.
The same page lists the 2026 closures: Thursday, January 1; Monday, May 25; Saturday, July 4; Monday, September 7; Thursday, November 26; Friday, December 25; and the following Friday, January 1. The list as published runs into next January, so a holiday-weekend cleanout is worth checking against it first.
What opened in March, and what closed with it
The City’s announcement of March 1, 2026 says the new transfer station and landfill are accepting waste from the public, and that the earlier landfill at 1624 Hannah Hill Road is now closed. A map pin saved a few years ago points at a gate nobody will open.
The notice also describes the division of labor between the sites: you take the items to the transfer station and the City consolidates the waste and moves it to the landfill. Each facility has a Customer Convenience Center for dropping trash, recyclables, tires and other household waste without joining the main landfill queue.
What each site accepts
Loads are grouped into municipal solid waste and construction and demolition waste. The municipal category covers general household material, and the City names brush, clothing, furniture, appliances, food and packaging. The construction category covers steel, wood, drywall, plaster, concrete and glass.
Three materials are landfill business only. The City states that brush, yard waste and concrete are not accepted at the transfer station. Limbs from a trimmed tree and the broken slab from a patio therefore share a destination, and it is the one out in Axtell.
What neither site accepts
The published refusal list is short and worth memorizing: paint, liquid waste, NiCd, lithium and lead acid batteries, used motor oil and filters, household hazardous waste, ammunition and explosives, and fluorescent light bulbs.
Several of those do have a City route, and it runs through Cobbs Recycling Center instead. Our Cobbs drop-off guide sets out which of them a resident may hand over, on what terms, and what the City adds to the utility bill for it.
The four free drops, and the paperwork they need
A Waco residential solid waste customer may bring up to one ton, 2,000 pounds, to either facility four times a year at no additional charge. Take the Waco utility bill showing residential trash service, on paper or on your phone, and a photo ID, on every trip.
The solid waste ordinance words the benefit as a rule rather than a courtesy. Section 21-30(g) limits a landfill deposit to 2,000 pounds and allows four deposits per calendar year to residential collection customers who prove residency. Subsection (g)(3) defines that proof: a photo identification card plus a copy of the most recent utility bill, with the two addresses matching.
Read the wording as written. The allowance sits with a service unit’s account, not with a vehicle or a driver. A load you are clearing for payment is not household waste because it happens to be furniture, and a friend’s bill does not cover your trailer.
What the load costs once the allowance is used
Two City pages publish the charges, and they are best read side by side.
| Published category | Rate |
|---|---|
| Landfill municipal solid waste, McLennan County residents | $52.00/ton |
| Landfill municipal solid waste, others | $75.00/ton |
| Landfill construction and demolition, no concrete or bricks | $75.00/ton |
| Landfill construction and demolition, with concrete or bricks | $125.00/ton |
| Transfer station municipal solid waste | $72.00/ton |
| Minimum charge to all users | $10.00 |
The adopted fee schedule on the City utility rate page adds the per-item charges, and words the tonnage line as a municipal solid waste tipping fee of $52.00 a ton including residential and self-hauling entities.
| Published item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Appliances and white goods | $15.00/unit |
| Residential tires off the wheel, 15 inches or smaller | $3.50/tire |
| Residential tires off the wheel, 16 to 20 inches | $6.00/tire |
| Unsecured load | $20.00/occurrence |
| Weight ticket | $15.00/ticket |
| Minimum tipping fee | $20.00/occurrence |
The two sources disagree on one line, so plan for the larger figure. The facility page says a $10 minimum fee will be charged to all users; the fee schedule lists a minimum tipping fee of $20.00 per occurrence. Ask which one applies when you weigh in.
The transfer station figure reconciles across both pages. The schedule charges a transfer surcharge of $20.00 a ton on top of the applicable landfill tipping fee, which is how $52.00 becomes the $72.00 a ton the facility page publishes for municipal solid waste there.
Secure the load before you leave the driveway
A tarp is not an optional extra. The fee schedule carries a $20.00 charge per occurrence for an unsecured load, and the City’s Cobbs page states that state law requires loose loads to be tarped. Ratchet straps cost less than one of those charges.
Weight matters as much as volume, because the allowance is written in pounds rather than truck beds. If you need the figure for your own records, the schedule lists a weight ticket at $15.00.
Five minutes of sorting before the drive
Put the bill and the identification in the cab before you load anything. Then separate the construction material from the household material, because a mixed trailer invites the higher classification, and concrete or bricks move the construction rate to $125.00 a ton.
Keep anything on the refusal list out of the load entirely. One can of paint in the back of a trailer is the kind of detail that turns a short errand into a second trip. Our debris planning guide covers describing material by weight rather than by the space it fills.
A business load is a different category
Commercial and industrial waste is not a residential drop, whatever it looks like on the trailer. The City lists its approved franchise haulers and regulates private collection through the solid waste ordinance.
If the material came out of a rental turnover, a shop or a job you were paid to clear, settle the category before the drive rather than at the scale. The commercial cleanout guide lists the approvals and access questions that come with it.
Three loads, three different answers
- A pickup bed of old furniture: municipal solid waste, so the transfer station is the shorter trip, and with the bill and the identification it may cost nothing as one of the four drops.
- A broken concrete patio: Axtell only, at the construction rate with concrete or bricks, which is $125.00 a ton. Weigh that against a contractor whose price also includes lifting it.
- A refrigerator and four tires: appliances and white goods are $15.00 a unit and residential tires off the wheel are $3.50 or $6.00 each, but the refrigerant comes first. The ordinance requires proof that CFCs and HCFCs were removed by a licensed technician, allows refrigerant-containing devices to be accepted at a city authorized collection center, and says a service fee is charged for recycling the refrigerant.
When self-haul stops making sense
A gate fee buys disposal. It does not buy the stairs, the carry, the lifting or the second journey, and nothing at the scale house helps with a sofa on the first floor. Price the morning honestly: fuel, a trailer if you need one, two people, and the risk of a refused load.
For an eligible curbside household with a modest pile, the monthly requested bulky collection may cover the job without a drive at all. The City pickup comparison works through that decision, and the pricing guide keeps public charges and private planning ranges in separate tables. When the load needs a hauler instead, the quote form reaches a local pro who confirms the scope and the price with you.
Official sources
- City of Waco, Landfill & Transfer Station: hours, addresses, accepted and unacceptable waste, tonnage rates, 2026 closures.
- City of Waco utility rates, Solid Waste schedule: tipping fees, minimum charge, tires, appliances, unsecured loads, weight tickets.
- City of Waco, New Landfill & Transfer Station Now Open: the March 2026 notice, the convenience centers and the Hannah Hill closure.
- Waco Code of Ordinances, sections 21-29 and 21-30: self-haul limits, proof of residency, refrigerant appliances.
- City of Waco, Cobbs Recycling Center: the tarp requirement and the resident drop-off terms.
- City of Waco, approved franchise haulers and the solid waste chapter: who may collect waste commercially.
Sources checked October 4, 2026. Hours, rates and acceptance change; confirm with the City before a trip.
Before you decide
Questions worth asking
What are the Waco landfill hours?
The City publishes Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., closed Sunday. The transfer station runs 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday.
How much does a load cost at the Waco landfill?
The facility page lists municipal solid waste at $52.00 a ton for McLennan County residents and $75.00 a ton for others, construction and demolition waste at $75.00 a ton without concrete or bricks and $125.00 with, and a $10.00 minimum. The adopted fee schedule lists a $20.00 minimum, so confirm at the scale.
Can I take brush or concrete to the transfer station?
No. The City states that brush, yard waste and concrete are not accepted at the transfer station. Those loads go to the landfill in Axtell.
What do I need for the free resident drop-offs?
A Waco residential solid waste customer gets four drops of up to 2,000 pounds a year at no extra charge. Bring the utility bill showing residential trash service and a photo ID whose address matches it.