San Antonio Dump Sites & Landfills — Locations, Hours, Fees & What They Take
San Antonio catches a lot of people out: the city's four drop-off centers are for BULKY waste only — furniture, appliances, brush, a little construction debris — and they will not take bags of household trash. The upside is they're free if you're a residential customer who pays the city environmental fee, and there's one on roughly every side of town. Below are all four locations with hours and the size limits that get loads turned away, plus the City's brush center.
San Antonio's free bulky drop-off — the rules that matter
Free for residential customers who pay the City's environmental fee — but you must prove it.
Bring BOTH a recent CPS Energy bill showing the Environmental Fee AND a matching photo ID. No bill, no free drop-off.
Residential customers only — materials from commercial waste haulers are not accepted at all.
NO household trash. These are bulky-waste centers, not a dump for your regular garbage bags.
Bulky items are limited to four (4) cubic yards per visit.
Construction debris is limited to one (1) cubic yard per visit — much tighter than the bulky limit.
Load height rule: material in a truck bed must not be stacked above the fender wheel. Overloaded trucks get turned away.
Open Tuesday through Saturday only — closed Sunday, Monday, and city holidays. Saturday closes early at 4 p.m.
Heads-up on the Bitters center: the entrance is off Wurzbach Parkway, reached from Jones Maltsberger — people regularly can't find it from the old approach.
Disposal sites in San Antonio
Bitters Bulky Waste Collection Center
Bulky Waste Drop-Off
City of San Antonio Solid Waste Management
1800 Wurzbach Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78216 Directions ↗
Free for residential customers paying the city environmental fee (CPS Energy bill + photo ID required)
Accepts: Bulky items (up to 4 cu yd), Construction debris (up to 1 cu yd), Furniture, Appliances, Brush
Won't take: Household trash, Commercial hauler loads, Loads stacked above the truck bed fender
The entrance is off the new Wurzbach Parkway — access it from Jones Maltsberger and Wurzbach Parkway. This trips up returning customers who remember the old entrance.
This site is also San Antonio's permanent Household Hazardous Waste drop-off — the only one in the city. Same address, same proof of residency. It takes paint, auto fluids, batteries, cooking oil, e-waste, fluorescent tubes and ballasts, household cleaners and solvents, lacquer, shellac, furniture polish, oil filters, pesticides, pool chemicals and printer cartridges. It will not take ammunition or fireworks, commercial or medical waste, medicine, or ordinary trash. Limits: paint and other liquids are capped at five 5-gallon cans or twenty-five 1-gallon cans, and HHW loads at 220 pounds. Hazardous-waste hours are shorter on Saturday: Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon.
Rigsby Road Bulky Waste Collection Center
Bulky Waste Drop-Off
City of San Antonio Solid Waste Management
2755 Rigsby Road, San Antonio, TX 78222 Directions ↗
Bring a recent CPS Energy bill showing the Environmental Fee, plus a photo ID
Untarped loads pay a $5 penalty
Coarse mulch is free year-round (load it yourself); fine mulch is $0.03 a pound
Accepts: Residential brush and leaves
Same address as the Bitters bulky center, but different hours: brush is taken Monday through Saturday until 5, while the bulky center is closed Mondays and shuts at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The entrance is off Wurzbach Parkway, reached from Jones Maltsberger.
For most San Antonio residents, dropping off household bulky waste is free. If
you pay the city's environmental fee — the line item on your CPS Energy bill — you
can use the city Bulky Waste Collection Centers (Bitters, Frio City Road, Culebra, and Rigsby Road)
at no charge. Bring a photo ID and proof the environmental fee is on your account.
There are limits per visit, so a very large load may take more than one trip.
Where fees do apply in San Antonio:
Non-residents & commercial loads can't use the free resident centers —
waste goes to a private landfill such as Tessman Road Landfill or
Covel Gardens, charged by weight at the posted per-ton gate rate.
Construction & demolition debris over one cubic yard a visit isn't accepted at the resident bulky
centers; a bigger load is billed by weight at a C&D or private landfill.
Extra or oversized loads beyond the per-visit resident limit may need a
private landfill and a gate fee.
Fees and limits change — call 311 or the facility before a big load. If it's more
than you want to haul yourself, a junk-removal quote can beat multiple trips plus gate fees.
San Antonio curbside brush & bulky pickup — and the $2,000 pile
San Antonio gives residential customers four curbside collections a year, and they are not interchangeable: two for brush, two for bulky items, on separate schedules. This is the part people get wrong, and here it is expensive to get wrong.
You don't schedule it. Collection is automatic on your assigned week, and the City notifies you with a door hanger 7 to 10 days ahead. Your pile has to be ready no later than 7 a.m. on the Monday of that week, no more than eight cubic yards, and within eight feet of the curb.
Never mix the two piles. A brush pile cannot contain bulky items and a bulky pile cannot contain brush or yard waste. If your pile is mixed, obstructed, or set out after crews have already passed, the City states you can face a fine of up to $2,000 per day — and you will still be charged a collection and disposal fee on top of it. One bag of grass clippings thrown on the couch pile is the whole problem.
What the bulky collection takes:
Furniture and mattresses
Large appliances and water heaters
TVs — up to 3
Car tires — 6 or fewer, no rims
Barbecue grills, fencing, carpeting in small pieces
What the brush collection takes: shrubs, tree branches and woody vines. That is the whole list.
Neither pile takes construction debris, hazardous waste, soil or rocks. If you are clearing dirt or broken concrete, curbside is not an option in San Antonio at any time of year, and the drop-off centers cap construction debris at one cubic yard a visit.
Missed your window, or have more than eight cubic yards? The City runs out-of-cycle collections for a fee based on the size of the pile, and will give you an estimate first. The other route is free: the four bulky waste drop-off centers above are open to you year-round with a CPS Energy bill, with no waiting for a collection week.
San Antonio's actual landfills — and why you probably don't need one
If you searched for San Antonio landfill fees, here is the honest answer: for most residents the right destination isn't a landfill at all. The City's four bulky waste centers take your load free with a CPS Energy bill, and a commercial landfill gate will weigh you and charge you.
The two permitted landfills serving San Antonio are:
Tessman Road Landfill (Republic Services) — 7000 E IH 10, San Antonio, TX 78219
Both are commercial gates that charge by weight. We don't publish a per-ton figure for either, because neither operator posts one publicly — call ahead for the current rate rather than trusting a number you found on a listings site.
When the landfill genuinely is the answer: your load is over the four-cubic-yard limit at the City centers, you have more than one cubic yard of construction debris, or you are not a City residential customer paying the environmental fee. Otherwise you are paying for something you have already been billed for.
The City runs four Bulky Waste Collection Centers: Bitters (1800 Wurzbach Parkway, 78216), Frio City Road (1531 Frio City Road, 78226), Culebra (7030 Culebra Road, 78238) and Rigsby Road (2755 Rigsby Road, 78222). All four are open Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sunday, Monday and city holidays. They take bulky items, not bags of household trash, free with a CPS Energy bill showing the Environmental Fee and a matching photo ID.
Where is the City of San Antonio bulky waste and household hazardous waste drop-off center?
At 7030 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238. The Culebra site is both a bulky waste collection center and the city's only permanent household hazardous waste drop-off. It's open Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, and you need a recent CPS Energy bill showing the Environmental Fee plus a matching photo ID.
How much does it cost to dump in San Antonio?
For most residents, nothing. The City's four bulky waste collection centers take your load free if you bring a recent CPS Energy bill showing the Environmental Fee plus a matching photo ID. The limits are four cubic yards of bulky waste and one cubic yard of construction debris per visit. The two commercial landfills serving the city, Tessman Road and Covel Gardens, charge by weight instead, so call them for a current per-ton rate before driving out.
Where do I take household hazardous waste in San Antonio?
The permanent drop-off is at 7030 Culebra Road, 78238, which is the same site as the Culebra bulky waste center. It is open Tuesday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, and needs the same CPS Energy bill and photo ID. It takes paint, auto fluids, batteries, cooking oil, e-waste, fluorescent tubes, cleaners and solvents, oil filters, pesticides, pool chemicals and printer cartridges. Paint and liquids are capped at five 5-gallon cans or twenty-five 1-gallon cans, and the whole load at 220 pounds.
How many bulky pickups do San Antonio residents get a year?
Four, but split into two separate services: two curbside brush collections and two curbside bulky item collections a year. They run on different weeks and the piles must be kept apart. Collection is automatic on your assigned week, with a door hanger 7 to 10 days beforehand, and your pile must be out by 7 a.m. on the Monday of that week.
Can I put dirt, rocks or concrete out for collection in San Antonio?
No. Soil and rocks are excluded from both the brush and the bulky curbside collections, and construction debris is capped at one cubic yard per visit at the drop-off centers, which is not much. Clean fill and concrete are usually handled as a separate category priced separately, so contact Tessman Road or Covel Gardens directly to ask what they take and what they charge before you load up.
Does it cost anything to dump at a landfill?
Usually yes. Most Texas landfills charge by weight (a per-ton gate rate) or by the load, and many cities give residents a discount or a set number of free drop-offs if you can show a current utility bill. Small transfer and collection stations sometimes take household trash for free. Exact fees are listed per facility above.
What's the difference between a landfill and a dump?
In everyday use people say "the dump," but a modern landfill is an engineered, permitted site with liners and monitoring. A transfer station is a smaller site where waste is collected and hauled to a landfill. Both take household junk; a transfer or collection station is often closer and quicker for small loads.
What's the cheapest way to get rid of junk for free?
Check whether your city offers free bulk-trash pickup on a set week, use county household-hazardous-waste and cleanup events, and give away usable items. For a landfill drop-off, bring proof of residency to get resident rates. If it's more than you can move yourself, a junk-removal quote is often cheaper than multiple trips plus gate fees.
How do I get rid of large or heavy items?
Bulky items — furniture, appliances, mattresses, construction debris — either go to the landfill (often for an extra per-item fee) or get hauled by a junk-removal service. If you'd rather not rent a truck and pay gate fees, check an upfront junk-removal price.
