Watertown Regional Landfill (South Dakota) — Hours, Fees & Rules
The Watertown Regional Landfill is at 45605 175th Street, about 3 miles south and 1 mile east of the junction of Highways 212 and 81. It's open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the gate closes promptly at 4.
Garbage costs $60 a ton with a $10 minimum. One thing it won't take at all: tires.
Mattresses and refrigerant appliances $15 each plus weight
Resident yard waste free
Accepts: Garbage, electronics, construction and demolition debris, appliances (fridge doors and contents removed), mattresses, trees and clean wood, yard waste.
Won't take: Tires, waste oil, hazardous waste, untreated medical waste, liquids, lead-acid, dry cell or lithium batteries, oil-based paint.
Stop at the scale and tell the attendant what's in your load; they'll direct you to the right area. Only hydraulic or electric tipping trailers and full-eject vehicles may drive into the landfill cell, and anyone in the cell needs a hard hat and high-visibility vest (sold at the landfill). Loads you unload by hand go in the public self-haul drop boxes near the scale. Weigh out and pay at the cashier window. Every load must stay secured until it's weighed, or the tipping fee doubles.
Refrigerators and freezers must have doors and contents removed. Items the landfill refuses, from batteries to waste oil, can go to the city's free household hazardous waste event each April (households only).
South Dakota has banned whole tires from its landfills since July 1995 (SDCL 34A-6-64): a tire has to be shredded or quartered first, which is why landfills charge for tires one by one. Stores that sell car batteries must take a used one back for each one they sell (SDCL 34A-6-91). State rules don't ban appliances or electronics outright, so each landfill sets its own rules for them.
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