Dump Run vs Dumpster Cost
Orange County’s public landfills, Prima Deshecha (San Juan Capistrano) and Olinda Alpha (Brea), charge $30 for a pickup or van load under 880 lb and $92.70 a ton above that (fees effective July 1, 2026); Frank R. Bowerman in Irvine is commercial only. For a small job the dump run is cheaper: 6 cubic yards of mixed debris is 3 pickup trips, about $180.21 in fees and driving and 4.5 hours, against $650 for a 12-yard bin.
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The calculator
Your haul
DIY vs dumpster
DIY
$180.21
3 trips, 4.5 hr
Cash out
$180.21
gate fees + driving
12-yard bin
$650
Hauling it yourself is cheaper by $469.79
How this was calculated
- Load per trip
- split evenly
- Per-ton fee
- prorated to the pound
- Dumpster
- cheapest size, 14 days
- Fees effective
- Jul 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2027
Prima Deshecha Landfill
32250 Avenida La Pata, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 · Mon–Sat, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm (commercial and general public)
- Accepts waste only from Orange County residents or businesses; proof of address may be requested.
- Clean, broken asphalt accepted free as of August 1, 2026.
- Accepts all soil (clean soil loads over 5 cubic yards or 8 tons need the county's soil form and testing).
- Household hazardous waste collection (free for county residents).
- Not accepted: asbestos, batteries, chemicals, tires, paints, poisons, pesticides, liquid waste.
- Bring proof the waste is from Orange County (driver’s license, utility bill or contract). Cover your load: Vehicle Code 23114 and 23115.
Worked example
14 cubic yards of torn-off shingles, about 5 tons, in a pickup
Weight: 14 yd³ × 731 lb (EPA, composition roofing) = 10,234 lb. Trips: a pickup carrying 1,000 lb needs 11 trips by weight (6 by volume), so 11 trips of about 930 lb.
Gate fees: each load is over 880 lb, so it’s weighed: 930 lb = 0.465 t × $92.70 = $43.12 × 11 = $474.32. Driving: 11 × 20 miles × $0.76 = $167.20. Cash out: $641.52, plus 16.5 hours.
Dumpster: the cheapest bin that holds it is a 40-yard at $825. Hauling it yourself saves $183.48 in cash, which works out to $11.12 an hour for your 16.5 hours. If your time is worth more than that, the dumpster wins.
Reference
Orange County landfill fees and rules for self-haul
| Load | Fee |
|---|---|
| Car, minivan or SUV, load under 360 lb | $15 |
| Pickup truck, utility or cargo van, load under 880 lb | $30 |
| Hard-to-handle items longer than 6 feet (wood, furniture, mattresses) | $15 additional |
| Vehicles carrying more than 880 lb | $92.70 per ton |
| More than 880 lb, including hard-to-handle materials | $107.70 per ton |
| Landfill | Address | Public? | Hours | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prima Deshecha Landfill | 32250 Avenida La Pata, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 | Yes | Mon–Sat, 7:00 am – 5:00 pm (commercial and general public) | Accepts waste only from Orange County residents or businesses; proof of address may be requested. Clean, broken asphalt accepted free as of August 1, 2026. Accepts all soil (clean soil loads over 5 cubic yards or 8 tons need the county's soil form and testing). Household hazardous waste collection (free for county residents). Not accepted: asbestos, batteries, chemicals, tires, paints, poisons, pesticides, liquid waste. |
| Olinda Alpha Landfill | 1942 N. Valencia Ave, Brea, CA 92823 | Yes | Mon–Sat, 7:00 am – 4:00 pm (commercial and general public; 6–7 am transfer trucks only) | Clean, broken asphalt accepted free as of July 2, 2026. Clean soil only. Not accepted: hazardous waste, chemically treated wood, asbestos, batteries, chemicals, tires, paints, pesticides, contaminated soils, medical and radioactive waste, liquid waste. |
| Frank R. Bowerman Landfill | 11002 Bee Canyon Access Rd, Irvine, CA 92602 | No, commercial only | Mon–Sat, 7:00 am – 4:00 pm (commercial haulers only) | Commercial only: “NO PUBLIC DISPOSAL.” Commercial status needs a business license, a current tax return, or a county deferred-payment account. Clean soil only. |
| Material | lb per loose yd³ | Which figure |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed remodel / construction debris | 484 | EPA, C&D bulk (484 lb/yd³) |
| Asphalt shingles (composition roofing) | 731 | EPA, composition roofing (731 lb/yd³) |
| Drywall / gypsum board (broken) | 467 | EPA, gypsum board (467 lb/yd³) |
| Lumber / wood (framing, decking, fencing) | 169 | EPA, dimensional lumber (169 lb/yd³) |
| Mixed yard waste, loose | 250 | EPA, mixed yard waste, uncompacted (250 lb/yd³) |
| Branches, brush and stumps | 127 | EPA, branches and stumps (127 lb/yd³) |
| Dirt / soil, dry | 2,200 | U.S. Army FM 5-434, loose dry earth, high end (2,200 lb/yd³) |
| Concrete, broken | 2,400 | City of San Diego, broken concrete (2,400 lb/yd³) |
How to use it
In 4 steps
- 1Pick the material and enter the cubic yards, or tick “I know the weight”.
- 2Enter what your vehicle carries per trip, by weight and by volume.
- 3Enter the round-trip miles to Prima Deshecha or Olinda Alpha and the hours a trip takes, loading included.
- 4Put a value on your time (0 counts cash only) and compare.
When a dump run beats a dumpster, and when it doesn't
The landfill is cheap per ton: $92.70, against $135 per extra ton in a dumpster. What costs you is trips. At the EPA’s 731 lb per cubic yard, a 2.5-cubic-yard pickup load of shingles is about 1,828 lb, so for heavy material the payload, not the bed, sets the number of trips, and every trip is miles and time. The pattern in the math: one or two loads of light debris, haul it; many loads of anything heavy, compare carefully.
Before you go: only Prima Deshecha and Olinda Alpha take the public; bring proof the waste is from Orange County; cover the load (Vehicle Code 23114 and 23115), or you may be cited or turned away. Neither takes tires, batteries, paint, chemicals or asbestos. Clean, broken asphalt is free at both. A clean soil load over 5 cubic yards or 8 tons needs the county’s soil form and testing.
The mileage default is the IRS business rate from July 1, 2026, 76¢ a mile; change it to your own fuel cost if you prefer. For weights, use the debris weight calculator; for a full bin bill, the dumpster cost calculator; for one or two loads, also check bags vs a roll-off.
FAQ
Dump run cost: questions
How much does it cost to go to the dump in Orange County?
From July 1, 2026: $15 for a car, minivan or SUV load under 360 lb, $30 for a pickup or van load under 880 lb, and $92.70 a ton for loads over 880 lb ($107.70 with hard-to-handle items). Items longer than 6 feet add $15.
Which Orange County landfills are open to the public?
Prima Deshecha in San Juan Capistrano (Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 5 pm) and Olinda Alpha in Brea (Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 4 pm). Frank R. Bowerman in Irvine is commercial only.
Do I need to prove I live in Orange County?
OC Waste & Recycling asks for proof the waste comes from Orange County, such as a driver's license, a utility bill or a contract showing the address.
Is it cheaper to haul debris myself or rent a dumpster?
For a load or two of light debris, hauling it yourself usually is: 6 cubic yards of mixed debris is about $180.21 in fees and driving against $650 for a bin. For heavy material or many trips, count your hours; 14 cubic yards of shingles saves only about $11.12 per hour of your time.
What mileage rate should I use?
The IRS business standard mileage rate is 76 cents a mile from July 1, 2026 (it was 72.5 cents January through June). Enter your own figure if you'd rather count only fuel.
Something not answered here? Call or text — it’s quicker than guessing.
Sources
Where these numbers come from
- [1]OC Waste & Recycling, Landfill Fees (opens in a new tab)"Fees - Effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027": autos/minivans/SUVs under 360 lb $15; pickups/utility/cargo vans under 880 lb $30; hard-to-handle items over 6 ft $15 extra; over 880 lb $92.70 per ton, $107.70 with hard-to-handle materials. "Only Olinda and Prima Deshecha landfills accept public disposal." Read 2026-09-22.
- [2]OC Waste & Recycling, Prima Deshecha Landfill (opens in a new tab)Address, hours (Mon–Sat 7 am–5 pm, commercial and general public), Orange County waste only, free clean asphalt from August 1, 2026, items not accepted. Read 2026-09-22.
- [3]OC Waste & Recycling, Olinda Alpha Landfill (opens in a new tab)Address, hours (Mon–Sat 7 am–4 pm, commercial and general public), free clean asphalt from July 2, 2026, items not accepted. Read 2026-09-22.
- [4]OC Waste & Recycling, Frank R. Bowerman Landfill (opens in a new tab)"A commercial-only landfill. NO PUBLIC DISPOSAL." Read 2026-09-22.
- [5]OC Waste & Recycling, Soil Disposal (opens in a new tab)Clean soil loads over 5 cubic yards or 8 tons need the soil form and testing; Prima Deshecha accepts all soil, Olinda and Bowerman clean soil only. Read 2026-09-22.
- [6]OC Waste & Recycling, Cover Your Load — It's the Law! (opens in a new tab)Vehicle Code 23114 and 23115; a warning, notice, citation, or being turned away. Read 2026-09-22.
- [7]IRS, Standard mileage rates (opens in a new tab)2026 business rate: 72.5¢ a mile January 1 – June 30 (IR-2025-128), 76¢ July 1 – December 31 (Announcement 2026-11 (IRB 2026-29)). Read 2026-09-22.
- [8]U.S. EPA, “Volume-to-Weight Conversion Factors” (April 2016) (opens in a new tab)Loose weights per cubic yard for the material quick pick, as used by the debris weight calculator. Read 2026-09-22.
- [9]City of San Diego, “C&D Debris Conversion Rate Table” (May 21, 2008) (opens in a new tab)Loose weights per cubic yard for the material quick pick, as used by the debris weight calculator. Read 2026-09-22.
- [10]U.S. Army FM 5-434, “Earthmoving Operations,” ch. 1, Tables 1-1 and 1-2 (opens in a new tab)Loose weights per cubic yard for the material quick pick, as used by the debris weight calculator. Read 2026-09-22.
- [11]Eco Waste rate sheet (opens in a new tab)The dumpster side of the comparison.
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Related tools
- Dumpster Cost CalculatorSize, load type, tons, days and moves: the total on Eco Waste's rate sheet, line by line.
- Dumpster Bag or Roll-Off?Your volume and weight in; how many bags ($29 each, $279 pickup, $179 per extra bag on the same pickup) vs one roll-off, and which costs less.
- Debris Weight CalculatorCubic yards of each material to tons, from the U.S. EPA's conversion factors and other published figures side by side, and what the overage would cost.
Know what you need? Book the bin.
12 to 40-yard roll-offs and $29 dumpster bags across Orange County. Call or text with the size, the city and the day — Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 4.