Tire disposal — which landfills take tires, and what it costs
In-depth state guides: Tire disposal in Colorado · Tire disposal in Texas
Tires are the single most inconsistent item in waste rules anywhere. The landfill twenty minutes one way will take five a month for free; the one in the other direction won't touch them at all. And in thirty-six of the fifty states we cover, whole tires are banned from landfills by law — Washington, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, Delaware, North Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska are the exceptions (Alabama's ban starts in 2028), and even in Washington dumping them is illegal — so the question isn't really "will they take them" but "which program is yours". Getting it wrong means loading a truck, driving out, and being turned away at the scale house.
The state rule comes first
| State | Whole tires in a landfill? | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | Banned — G.S. 130A-309.10 | Scrap tires are on the statutory landfill ban list. Counties run tire programs instead, most with a free resident allowance. |
| Florida | Banned — FAC 62-701.300(8)(b) | Whole waste tires may not go in any landfill or C&D facility, except as allowed under chapter 62-711. See what else Florida bans. |
| Georgia | Banned whole since Dec. 31, 1994 | Tires may go to a landfill only if shredded, chopped or chipped to state standards. Private citizens may store no more than 25 and transport no more than 10 at a time without a permit. |
| Texas | Banned whole — 30 TAC 330.15(e)(4) | A permitted landfill may take scrap tires only once they've been split, quartered or shredded. Whether your city does that for you, and at what price, is local policy — which is why the Texas rows below vary so wildly. |
| Ohio | Banned — OAC 3745-535-620 | Whole and shredded scrap tires are prohibited at municipal solid waste landfills, with narrow exceptions for material from a licensed recovery facility, documented rejected loads and authorized beneficial uses. In practice that means no Ohio landfill will bury your tires — counties run the drop-off instead, and several give residents a free annual allowance. |
| Tennessee | Banned whole — Tenn. Code § 68-211-867(d) | A landfill may not accept whole, unshredded waste tires. Shredded tires can only be landfilled when no cheaper recycling use is available. Every county has to provide a site that takes them (§ 68-211-866), and a county on a state tire grant can't charge a tipping fee there — Knox County takes up to 8 a year free at its convenience centers, while Rutherford County charges $2 a tire. |
| Virginia | Must be cut up — 9VAC20-81-640 | Tires going into a sanitary or construction-debris landfill must be split, cut or shredded first. Local programs take them separately: SPSA's Regional Landfill in Suffolk takes four car tires a day free from Hampton Roads residents, Virginia Beach's Resource Recovery Center four per visit, and Prince William County four a month. |
| South Carolina | Banned — S.C. Code § 44-96-170 | No one may knowingly put whole waste tires in a landfill, and every new tire sold carries a $2 state fee. County programs take them separately: Spartanburg County takes tires only at its Wellford Landfill, Richland County takes up to five car tires at its Caughman Road drop-off, and Charleston County's Bees Ferry Landfill charges $150 a ton. |
| Arizona | Banned — A.R.S. § 44-1304 | Waste tires can't go in a landfill; motor-vehicle tires go to a waste tire collection site. Tire sellers must take back as many old tires as they sell you, and each county's designated collection site must take 5 a year free from county residents (§ 44-1302). Phoenix and Glendale take 5 free from their residents; Tucson's Los Reales Landfill charges $5 a tire. |
| California | Banned — only altered or shredded tires can be landfilled | Tires are banned from the trash, and whole tires can't go in a California landfill; only altered or shredded pieces can. Dumps collect them for recycling instead: Kern County's Bena Landfill charges $3.59 per car or light-truck tire, and Sacramento County's North Area Recovery Station takes up to 4 a day free. |
| Washington | Not banned — but dumping them is (RCW 70A.205.400) | Washington law doesn't keep tires out of landfills, but dumping them anywhere other than a designated disposal site carries a $200 to $2,000 civil penalty per offense. Most tire dealers collect a $5 fee on each new tire, and you can leave your old ones at the store. Seattle's transfer stations take up to 4 tires for $16 a load; Tacoma charges its residents $3.25 a tire plus weight. |
| Oregon | Banned — ORS 459.247 | No one may dispose of tires at an Oregon disposal site, but sites may collect them for recycling, so the transfer station still takes them for a fee: Metro charges $30 for the first car tire and $2 for each one after (15 a day), Lane County $5 a tire and Deschutes County $4. |
| Colorado | Banned — unless there's truly no other option | Waste tires are on Colorado's list of materials prohibited from disposal sites, unless you've done your due diligence and found no other option. County landfills collect them for recycling instead: Larimer County charges $7.50 a car tire ($13.50 on the rim), Mesa County $6 ($12 on the rim), and both Larimer and Chaffee counties cap drop-offs at 9 tires under state rules. |
| Maryland | Banned — since the Scrap Tire Recycling Act of 1991 | Maryland banned tires from landfills in 1991, and hauling more than five scrap tires a year takes a state license. A $1 fee on every new tire (since January 1, 2026) pays for the program. County sites take a few from residents: Howard County 4 car tires a day free, Anne Arundel County 4 from your own vehicle free, and Charles County 2 a visit free, with a $40 recovery fee for any tire found in its landfill. |
| Wisconsin | Banned — since January 1, 1995 (Wis. Stat. 287.07(3)) | Whole waste tires can't go in a Wisconsin landfill, or in a trash container headed for one. County sites collect them for recycling instead: Oneida County charges $8 a tire, Winnebago County $6 (16-inch or smaller), La Crosse County $8 a car tire (up to 4), and Outagamie County $12. |
| Minnesota | Banned — since July 1, 1985 (Minn. Stat. 115A.904) | Minnesota bans putting waste tires in the land, so they go to a county drop-off or a tire shop for recycling. County fees are low: Carlton County charges $2 a car tire, Rice County $3, Hennepin County's drop-offs $5 with or without the rim, and Steele and Kandiyohi counties $7. |
| Alabama | Banned from January 1, 2028 (ADEM rule 335-13-4-.21) | Starting in 2028, Alabama landfills can't bury whole tires; they must be shredded or cut into thirds first. Many county sites already refuse them: Shelby and Coffee county landfills take no tires. The Morgan County Regional Landfill near Decatur charges $50 a passenger tire, and Calhoun County weighs tires at $40 a ton. |
| Utah | Not buried: stored for recycling (Utah Code 19-6-804) | At a Utah landfill, whole tires go to a separate tire area so they can be recycled, no more than 12 at a time; only shredded tires can be buried. Landfills charge a small fee per tire: $2.50 for a car tire in Logan, $3.50 in Washington County, $4 at the Davis and Salt Lake Valley landfills, and $5 in Box Elder County. |
| Iowa | Banned since July 1, 1991, unless processed (Iowa Code 455D.11) | Whole tires can't be buried in Iowa; landfills take them for recycling or accept them once processed. Scott County residents drop off 5 car tires a year free; elsewhere expect $4 off the rim in Linn County, $5 in Boone County, $8 in Dubuque and $10 in Sioux City and at Metro Park East near Des Moines. |
| Kansas | Banned as final disposal, except as KDHE allows, mainly once processed (K.S.A. 65-3424a) | Whole tires can't simply be buried in Kansas; landfills and transfer stations take them for a fee: $2.50 a car tire in Butler County, $3 off the rim in Leavenworth County (free for residents on its monthly tire day), $4.44 in Emporia, $4.50 in Riley County and $10 at Wichita's Brooks Landfill. |
| Idaho | Banned whole: tires must be processed, cut to at least 65% smaller, before landfilling (Idaho Code 39-6503) | Idaho landfills and transfer stations take tires for a fee and process them: $4 at Canyon County's Pickles Butte, $5 in Bonneville County and at the Twin Falls stations, $5.25 at the Ada County Landfill and $7 in Bannock County. Kootenai County residents drop off 8 tires without rims free. |
| Connecticut | Banned, whole or in pieces: tires are a special waste, and the state no longer permits landfilling them (CT DEEP) | Town transfer stations take tires for a fee: $2 in Trumbull, $5 in Norwalk and Westport, $10 in Stamford and $20 in Wallingford. Guilford takes up to 6 a day free (up to 42 inches), Hamden takes 4 a year per household, and Bridgeport 2 a trip. |
| New York | Banned: no one may knowingly dispose of waste tires in a landfill (N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law 27-1911) | Town and county sites take tires for a fee: $3 in Steuben and Sullivan counties and Clifton Park (up to 16 inches), $4 in Broome County and Colonie, $5 to $30 by size in Orange County, $6 in Guilderland and $8 in Brookhaven. |
| New Hampshire | No state ban: state rules (Env-Sw 905) regulate how landfills handle tires | Town transfer stations set their own rules: Derry and Hooksett take 4 free per registered vehicle, Manchester a free set of 4 with a city registration; Goffstown charges $4, Amherst and Merrimack $5, Bedford $7. Salem and Exeter don't take tires. |
| Maine | No state ban: state rules set how landfills handle tires | Town transfer stations set their own fees: $4 for a passenger tire in Belfast and Standish, $5 off the rim in Waterboro, $10 in South Portland, $12 and up in Wells. Hampden doesn't take tires. |
| Montana | No state ban: waste tires are regulated as solid waste | Landfills set their own fees: $2.50 a tire in Lincoln County, $5 in Helena and Miles City, $58 a ton at Gallatin's Logan Landfill and $166 a ton in Billings. Flathead County takes four passenger tires free from residents. |
| New Mexico | No state ban: haulers need a state scrap tire manifest | Landfills charge by the tire or ton: $2 at San Juan County stations, $3.50 at the Sandoval County Landfill, $4.33 in Las Cruces, $10.38 in Roswell. Bring 10 or more and you'll need a manifest. |
| Oklahoma | No state ban: used tires may go only to a DEQ-permitted or authorized site | Enid's landfill charges $10 to $17 a tire and the Tulsa Indoor Dump $13 for a car tire; Stillwater takes 2 a day free with a utility bill. Hauling more than 10 from a tire dealer needs a state manifest. |
| New Jersey | No state ban: county facilities take them for a fee and send them to recycling | Warren County takes residents' car tires for $3 each, the Cape May County transfer station up to 5 at $4, the Atlantic County Utilities Authority $6.15 and Salem County $10.50. |
| Nebraska | Banned: waste tires can't be buried (Neb. Rev. Stat. 13-2039) | Landfills sort them out for recycling: $5.25 a car tire in Lincoln, $6 in Hastings, $10 at the Sarpy County Transfer Station; Omaha holds free tire days for residents. |
| Nevada | No statewide ban: only at sites permitted for tires (NRS 444.583), and not landfilled in counties with a tire-processing facility | Carson City charges $7 a tire and Elko $5 with a load; Nye County's landfills take residents' own tires free. Tires that are landfilled must be cut or split. |
| Indiana | Banned: whole waste tires can't go in a landfill (Ind. Code 13-20-14-1) | County sites take them separately: $3 a car tire in Bartholomew and Lawrence counties, $4 at the Elkhart County Landfill, $5 in Daviess County and $8 in Washington County. Stores that sell new tires must take old ones one for one. |
| Arkansas | Banned: whole tires can't go in a landfill unless shredded or split (Ark. Code 8-9-403) | Landfills and county tire collection centers take them: Craighead County and Conway residents get 4 free tires a month, and Fort Smith points residents to a tire processor at $3 a tire. Tire stores charge $3 per new tire and take the old ones. |
| Michigan | Banned whole: landfills take tires only cut in half or shredded (NREPA Part 115) | County sites take them for a fee: $4 in Kent County, $7 in Oceana County, $10 at St. Clair County's Smiths Creek Landfill and in Midland; Muskegon County takes only processed tires. |
| Kentucky | Banned whole: contained landfills take tires only processed, such as cut or shredded (KRS 224.50-856) | County sites take them for a fee: $3 to $6 in Daviess County and $4 in Nelson County; Louisville residents drop off 4 a day free. Hardin County's landfill takes none. |
| Pennsylvania | Banned whole: landfills can accept tires only shredded, chopped or split (Waste Tire Recycling Act of 1996) | LCSWMA charges $5 a car tire, Lycoming County $7 to $12 and Centre County $87 a ton; Philadelphia residents drop off 4 a day free. Chester County's Lanchester Landfill takes none. |
| Louisiana | Banned unprocessed: landfills can take tires only cut, separated or shredded (R.S. 30:2418) | Jefferson Parish's Marrero and Metairie drop-offs and Calcasieu Parish's centers take 5 a day free from residents, and East Baton Rouge residents can bring 4 a year to the North Landfill; Shreveport's landfill takes no whole tires. |
| West Virginia | Banned: it's unlawful to dispose of tires in a landfill (W.Va. Code 22-15A-22) | Sites take them separately for a fee: $2 to $3 a car tire in Raleigh County, $2 and up in Tucker County, $4 to $12 in Jefferson County. |
| Missouri | Banned whole: landfills take tires only cut, chipped or shredded (RSMo 260.270) | Tire stores must take old tires back one for one when you buy new ones (for a fee); St. Joseph's landfill charges $2 off the rim, $4 on. |
| Massachusetts | Banned whole from landfills (MassDEP waste ban); shredded tires are allowed | Town stations charge $5 in Worcester, $5 to $15 in Falmouth and $6 to $20 in Barnstable. |
| Mississippi | Banned whole from landfills and rubbish sites (MDEQ rule); processed tires are allowed | DeSoto County's Sandidge Road pit takes up to 25 a month from residents; Hancock County's barns take 25 a year per homeowner. |
| Illinois | Banned whole from landfills (Illinois EPA) | The Knox County Landfill charges $15 to $65 a tire; Rock Island County picks up 10 a year free per household. |
| Vermont | Banned from the trash and landfills since 1992 | Stowe charges $6 to $20 a tire; Chittenden County's Milton, Essex and South Burlington drop-off centers take them too. |
| Rhode Island | Not banned by state law; Resource Recovery recycles whole tires it can recover | Resource Recovery charges $8 a car tire; town stations charge $6 to $13. |
| Delaware | Not banned by state law | DSWA transfer stations take up to 4 passenger tires a load; bigger loads go to a DSWA landfill at $280 a ton. |
| South Dakota | Banned since 1995 unless shredded or quartered (SDCL 34A-6-64) | Landfills take tires separately for a per-tire fee: $3–$8 in Sioux Falls, $7–$15 in Rapid City, $4.50 in Aberdeen. Watertown refuses them. |
| North Dakota | Not banned: landfills may legally bury them | City landfills charge per tire: $3–$5 in Minot, $6 in Bismarck, $10–$15 in Fargo and Grand Forks. |
| Wyoming | Not banned by state law we found | Landfills charge per tire: $4 in Laramie, $4.74 in Cheyenne, $6 in Campbell County; Sheridan takes only car and pickup tires, by weight. |
| Alaska | Not banned by state law we found | The Kenai Peninsula Borough charges tires as inert waste at $90 a ton; borough transfer stations set their own limits. |
| Hawaii | Banned from trash and landfills (HRS 342I-22) | Take tires to a tire retailer, wholesaler or permitted recycler; Kauaʻi transfer stations and Oʻahu's Kapaʻa and Kawailoa transfer stations collect residents' tires. |
Sources: Ohio Administrative Code 3745-535-620; Tennessee Code §§ 68-211-866 and 68-211-867; NC G.S. 130A-309.10; Florida Administrative Code 62-701.300 and 62-711; Georgia Code § 12-8-40.1; S.C. Code § 44-96-170; A.R.S. §§ 44-1302 and 44-1304; CDPHE, materials prohibited from landfill disposal; MDE, scrap tires; Wis. Stat. § 287.07; Minn. Stat. § 115A.904; ADEM Admin. Code r. 335-13-4-.21; Utah Code § 19-6-804; Iowa Code § 455D.11; K.S.A. 65-3424a; Idaho Code § 39-6503; CT DEEP, recycling and disposal of scrap tires; N.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law § 27-1911; NHDES fact sheet SW-22, scrap tire management; ORS 459.247; RCW 70A.205.400 and Washington Department of Ecology, waste tires; CalRecycle, waste banned from the trash and CalRecycle waste tire report; TCEQ used and scrap tire management; Texas 30 TAC 330.15(e)(4). Verified September 2026.
Then check what your own facility does
The state rule tells you whether a landfill may take tires. It does not tell you whether yours will, how many it takes, or what it charges — and those vary by facility, not by state.
Two things are worth knowing before you load up, wherever you live:
- Most places cap the number per visit, per year, or per household — commonly somewhere between four and ten.
- Tires on rims usually cost more, or are refused outright, because the steel has to come off before the rubber can be processed. Taking the rims off yourself is often the difference between a small fee and a refusal.
Use the finder below for the sites nearest you, then open your city's page for its own limit and fee.
Find a landfill near you
Enter your city or ZIP for the nearest disposal sites. Confirm their tire rule by phone before you load up — it varies more than any other item.
Why tires are treated differently from everything else
Whole tires are a genuine problem for a landfill. They trap air, refuse to stay buried, and work their way back to the surface over time — which is why so many sites either refuse them or insist they are cut up first. Cut a tire in half and it stops floating — which is why a landfill will often take a split or quartered tire and turn away a round one.
That's also why tires almost never fall under a normal per-ton gate rate. Cities handle them as a separate line item with a hard count limit — five a month, six a year, four a day — rather than by weight.
What that looks like in practice. Where a state bans tires outright, the counties have to provide the alternative, and they tend to converge on similar allowances — in Ohio, two separate counties independently settled on ten free tires a year per resident. That is not coordination. It is what a disposal ban looks like once someone else has to absorb it.
There is a second reason, and it has nothing to do with engineering. A tire lying in the open holds water for months, and standing water breeds mosquitoes — which is why piles of scrap tires are treated as a public health nuisance as well as a disposal problem, and why states set limits on how many you may store or transport without a permit.
What happens to them afterwards is genuinely useful: shredded tires become crumb rubber for sports surfaces and playgrounds, tire-derived fuel for cement kilns, and aggregate for road base. The fee you pay at the shop or the gate is buying that processing, which is why nowhere takes them for nothing.
The cheapest way to get rid of tires
Start with the shop. If you're replacing tires, the tire shop will take the old ones for a small disposal fee — usually a few dollars each, rolled into the job. That's almost always cheaper and easier than a trip to the landfill, and it's the option most people forget.
If you already have a pile in the garage, check your local limit and spread the load across the allowed window rather than turning up with all of them. A five-a-month allowance means a stack of fifteen is three trips — not one rejection.
- Tire shops take old tires for a small per-tire fee when they sell you new ones.
- County cleanup events often take tires free — watch for them, they're usually seasonal.
- Never dump tires illegally. Texas treats tire dumping seriously, and abandoned tires breed mosquitoes and catch fire.
- If your city requires split tires, a reciprocating saw works, but it's miserable work — price a junk-removal quote before you commit an afternoon to it.
Common questions
Can I put tires in my regular trash?
No. Tires are excluded from curbside household collection essentially everywhere, and from bulky-waste pickup almost everywhere too. They have to go to a facility that specifically accepts them.
Why won't the landfill take whole tires?
Whole tires trap air and migrate back up through the fill over years, damaging the cap. Sites that accept them at all often require them split, quartered or shredded first, which is why a landfill can say yes to a cut tire and no to a round one.
How much does it cost to dispose of a tire?
Often nothing, if you stay inside a local free allowance — many counties and cities give residents somewhere between four and ten tires a year at no charge. Past the allowance, expect a few dollars a tire, more for a truck tire, and more again if the rims are still on. Tire shops typically charge a few dollars each.
How do I dispose of tires legally?
Whole tires are banned from landfills in thirty-six of the fifty states we cover (all but Washington, Alabama, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Nevada, Rhode Island, Delaware, North Dakota, Wyoming and Alaska), so the route is your county or city tire program; most give residents a free allowance. In Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia a landfill may take tires once they've been cut up (split, quartered or shredded in Texas; shredded in Tennessee, and only when no cheaper recycling use is available; split, cut or shredded in Virginia), and whether your city does that for you is local policy. Ohio and Connecticut ban shredded tires too. Find yours in the table above.
What if I have more tires than the limit?
Spread them across the allowed window, use a tire shop, or get a junk-removal quote. Commercial quantities are a different category — most city landfills won't take a trailer of tires from a resident at any price.