If quotes look higher than they did last year, there is a specific reason, and it is not the haulers.
The landfill rate changed in July
Orange County’s published fee schedule, effective 1 July 2026, lists a disposal rate of $92.70 per ton for qualifying loads over 880 pounds, with additional fees on certain hard-to-handle materials.
Separately, the rate paid by cities and sanitary districts under the county’s waste infrastructure agreements rose to $67 per ton on the same date, with further increases scheduled in later years.
Every hauler in the county pays one of those rates at the gate. It is not a margin decision.
It hits heavy loads hardest
Disposal is charged by weight. So the increase lands almost entirely on the material that weighs the most: concrete, dirt, stucco, tile, brick, roofing and drywall.
A load of furniture and a load of soil can take the same space in a trailer and cost very different amounts to dispose of. That gap got wider in July.
What it does not change much
Furniture, mattresses, appliances and general household clearance are priced by the room they take up rather than by weight. Those prices moved far less.
Our household prices start at $150 for a single item and run to $750 for a full load, with labor, loading and dump fees included.
Why some quotes still look low
If a quote for heavy material looks well below the others, ask what it includes. A price that does not account for the current gate rate is either being absorbed by the hauler, recovered somewhere less visible, or about to change on the day.
That is a fair question to ask anyone, including us.
What this means practically
For household junk. Very little. Prices are broadly where they were.
For renovation debris. Expect weight-based pricing and expect a quote from photos rather than a flat rate. A full load of construction debris runs $900 to $1,500 depending on what is in it.
For mixed loads. Separating the heavy material from the rest can genuinely reduce the cost. Ask before the crew arrives.
Serving Tustin, Irvine, Anaheim and across Orange County. See also construction debris removal.