Everything You Need to Know Before You Go To a Landfill

Preparing to Face a Landfill 

Utilizing a landfill has its benefits and can be a great way to dispose of unwanted items, depending on your needs. There are, however, several things you should be prepared for prior to visiting a landfill. Trips to the landfill aren’t exactly for the faint of heart, so make sure that it is the best disposal method for you. Luckily, our team at Junk Crusaders has plenty of experience at landfills and can tell you what to look out for!

Don’t be that person who has to drive home from the landfill with the windows down trying to get rid of the smell, not to mention the spare tire from driving over a nail while you were dumping your junk items! Spare yourself the inconveniences by familiarizing yourself with the risks involved in a trip to the landfill.

Pile of trash
The Odor

You’re all too familiar with how awful your kitchen trash smells after a week. Imagine acres of trash that have been sitting there for months and months. This smell will often stick with you long after you leave, lingering on your clothes and in your vehicle.

If you thought the smell of your own trash would be hard to get out of your nice, clean car, it only gets worse once you arrive at the landfill!

flat tire
Vehicle Risks

This may come as a shocker, but landfills are actually not fun locations to be at. When you visit a landfill, you have to deal with the lines of trucks waiting to dump their items, stepping over the waste and debris that has fallen on the ground, flying gravel hitting your windshield, and driving your vehicle through a parking lot that is surely filled with loose items like glass shards, nails, and more.

Disposal fees aren’t the only costs you may incur due to these risks of damage to personal property or self and the inconvenience of dealing with the landfill environment.

pile of waste at landfill
Pricing and Disposal Fees

Disposing of unwanted items at landfills is not a free process. In fact, there are often costly fees associated with dumping items at your local landfill.

In addition to the disposal fees, you will also have to spend time loading your vehicle, waiting in the long lines at the landfill, and most likely even more time cleaning your vehicle afterward!

stack of old tires
Prohibited Items

We recommend familiarizing yourself with what items are and are not allowed to be dumped at the landfill of your choosing. It would be such a waste if you loaded up your vehicle, drove all the way to your nearest landfill, and discovered that you will not be allowed to dump your items there.

Items that are commonly not allowed include old computers and other electronics, wet chemicals such as paint and oil, tires, and other forms of hazardous or toxic waste.

A Better Alternative to Using Landfills in St. Louis

If you want to save yourself from dealing with the mysterious debris and odor in the parking lot, flying gravel hitting your car, driving over nails, and paying those pesky fees, you can let our team handle it all for you! You won’t have to spend the time researching the right place to take your unwanted junk and transporting your items. We can do it all for you!  Avoid the risks and inconveniences by taking advantage of our full-service team!

Our professional team of junk removal experts knows all the ins and outs of our local landfills and can tell you upfront whether we’ll be able to take your items there or not. In fact, we factor that in to our list of accepted items. Our trucks and team members are insured, so we’re prepared to handle any potential damage that occurs at these crowded and dangerous landfills.

A Few St. Louis Landfill Options
  • Champ Landfill:  Champ Landfill in Maryland Heights has a fixed price of $109.90 per ton of waste, with a one ton minimum load.  Currently, Champ Landfill doesn’t offer recycling services, but you can unload many other waste substances here during their operating hours of 7am to 4pm on weekdays and 7am to 11am on Saturdays.
  • Milam Landfill:  Milam Landfill is open to the public from 6am-3pm on weekdays and 6am to 10am on Saturdays.  This East St. Louis location will accept most items that you may need to haul off, but does not accept hazardous waste.  
  • Saint Louis Household Hazardous Waste: If you need to dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW), this location is a good option.  There are two locations that are open either on Thursdays or Wednesdays and some Saturdays, so check out the website prior to going to see if they are open.