Where does junk actually go in Cleveland?

The short answer

Junk from a Cleveland home gets sorted into streams. Usable items may go to a charity, if one accepts them. Metal goes to scrap. Construction debris goes to a C&D facility. What is left goes through a transfer station to a landfill. We try to donate usable items when local charities accept them, and we recycle whatever we can. The price is flat either way: $241 for a 1/4 truck, $431 for a 1/2, $732 for a full truck.

Transfer stations: the first stop for household trash

Cleveland does not use the word dump much. Household waste goes to a transfer station, where it is consolidated into bigger trucks and sent on.

The ones residents hear about:

• Ridge Road Transfer Station, 3727 Ridge Rd, run by the City of Cleveland. Free for City residents, Monday to Saturday 9 to 3, up to 4 cubic yards per visit.
• Rumpke's Harvard Road transfer station in Newburgh Heights.
• Rumpke's Broadview Heights transfer station on Postal Drive.

Rumpke's stations feed its Noble Road landfill. Rocky River runs its own residents-only transfer station as well. The City's Carr Center at 5600 Carnegie Ave is another residents-only drop-off. In the suburbs, Lakewood runs a city Drop-Off on Berea Road, and Shaker Heights residents can use a drop-off at 15600 Chagrin Blvd on Saturdays, once per household per quarter.

Tipping fees at the private stations are not published, so call before you drive a load in yourself.

Construction and demolition debris: its own path

Plaster, lath, drywall, old cabinets, roofing shingles and concrete are not household trash. They go to C&D (construction and demolition debris) facilities. In and around Cuyahoga County those include WM's Cuyahoga C&DD Landfill in Solon, Boyas in Valley View and Rosby in Brooklyn Heights.

This is also why City bulk week will not take renovation waste. It is a different stream with different facilities. Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights exclude it from bulk too. Lakewood takes small amounts curbside, but only in bundles of 50 pounds or less, with lumber cut to 4 feet.

In a city where the median home was built in 1941 and old houses in Ohio City, Tremont and the Heights are always mid-rehab, this stream is big. A single bathroom gut of cast iron tub, toilet and vanity is $185 + $64 + $69 = $318, and most of it is headed to C&D or scrap, not a household transfer station.

Metal: scrap

A lot of what comes out of Cleveland basements is metal: washers, dryers, water heaters, furnaces, old cast iron radiators, steel shelving, bed frames. Metal is the easiest stream to recycle because it has value.

A cast iron radiator is $123 to remove. It is heavy, and it is exactly the kind of thing that should end up as scrap, not landfill. A typical furnace-day load of an old furnace, a tank water heater and a unit of metal shelving is $131 + $131 + $71 = $333, nearly all of it steel.

Refrigerant appliances: recovery first

Fridges, freezers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners hold refrigerant. Federal rules require it to be recovered before disposal. That is why the City asks for appliances to be drained of coolants and fluids before set-out, and why Lakewood asks residents to call first about refrigerant appliances. After recovery, the metal can be scrapped.

Cleveland basements produce a steady stream of these: the second fridge, the chest freezer and the dehumidifier that runs all summer. All three together: $164 + $146 + $77 = $387.

Electronics: drop-off and recycling

TVs, computers and monitors are e-waste. The City of Cleveland takes e-waste at drop-off only, and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District publishes electronics recycling guidance. Shaker Heights excludes e-waste from its bulk pickup. Circuit boards and screens are better recovered than buried.

Wipe or remove hard drives, and factory-reset smart TVs, before anything with data leaves the house.

Donation: when it fits

Clean, usable furniture, working appliances and household goods can sometimes be donated. It depends on the charity, the item and its condition. A solid wood dresser from a Shaker Heights estate has a better chance than a sagging recliner from a damp basement.

We try to donate usable items when local charities accept them. We cannot promise it for any particular item. If you want something to go to a specific person or group, set it aside before the crew arrives and arrange that yourself.

Following one Parma basement load

A 1950s bungalow basement, cleared after the spring thaw:

• The chest freezer and dehumidifier: refrigerant recovered, then scrap metal.
• The old washer and the steel shelving: scrap.
• A solid oak dresser in good shape: offered for donation if a local charity will take it.
• Water-damaged boxes, a moldy rug and broken lawn chairs: transfer station, then landfill.
• Paneling torn off a wall years ago: C&D.

All of it in one truck, sorted after pickup. The customer sees one price: in this case a 1/2 truck, $431.

What a load costs

For scale: Ridge Road's 4-cubic-yard visit limit is about the size of our 1/4 truck tier. Disposal is included in every price. No separate dump fee, no sales tax line.

See the full Cleveland price list for single items.

Frequently asked questions