Salt River Landfill: Hours, Fees, and What They Won't Take

The Salt River Landfill sits on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, off the Beeline Highway just north of Mesa. Mesa does not run a landfill of its own, so this is where the city sends residents, and it is what people mean when they search for the Mesa dump.

What it costs

Everything is weighed. You cross a scale on the way in and again on the way out, and you pay for the difference. These are the posted rates:

The $30 minimum is the part that catches people out. One mattress in the back of a pickup weighs almost nothing, and it still costs $30. That is the whole reason the Mesa resident program exists.

Two of those lines are worth reading twice. Special handling is not just couches and mattresses. The landfill applies it to burial, large concrete, jet skis, hot tubs, large stumps, and anything else it calls hard to handle, and it is charged on top of the weight. And the freon surcharge is avoidable: if you can produce a signed statement naming who removed the refrigerant, their address, and the date, or a contract saying it will be removed before delivery, the $30 comes off.

The $15 Mesa resident program

If you pay a City of Mesa solid waste bill, you get one load a month here for a flat $15, billed to your next utility statement rather than collected at the gate. The rules, straight from the city:

• 2,000 pounds, once per calendar month. Go over and you pay the gate rate on the whole load. There is no credit for the first 2,000 pounds.
• Bring two things: your City of Mesa utility bill for the current or previous month, paper or on your phone, and a photo ID with an address that matches it. Missing either one means the gate rate.
• Your bill has to show a qualifying rate code under Solid Waste. They all start R1.2 or R2.9. The city lists the exact set on the program page, and its own utility rate book lists a slightly shorter one, so check yours against the city page rather than against any list copied off a site like this one.
• One-ton vehicle rating, maximum. Bigger than that and the program does not apply.
• Surcharges are still yours. Uncovered loads, crushing, burial, and freon extraction are charged on top of the $15.

Mesa residents can use the Republic Services transfer station on Mountain Road under the same program, which is a much shorter drive from most of east Mesa.

Scottsdale residents

Scottsdale residents get a better deal than Mesa residents: the trip is free, once per calendar week, Monday through Saturday, up to 2,000 pounds.

• Bring the top portion of your current Scottsdale utility bill showing the residential solid waste charge, plus a driver's license matching the name and service address on it. A photo of the bill on your phone is not accepted. If you get e-bills, print it.
• Non-commercial vehicle, three-quarter ton or less,and no more than 1.5 cubic yards.
• Over 2,000 pounds, or no ID, and the landfill bills the entire load at $60 a ton with a $30 minimum.
• The city does not reimburse any surcharge. The $30 freon charge, the $20 untarped fee, and the bulk handling fee are all yours.

One thing to sort out before you drive: the City of Scottsdale says the landfill takes cash only, and the landfill says it takes credit and debit. Those two pages disagree, so bring cash as well as a card. Terms are on the city's page and the landfill's.

What they will not take

Prohibited at the gate: tires, paint, chemicals, used oil, PCB-containing waste, biomedical waste, lead-acid batteries, any liquids, friable asbestos, and railroad ties. Mobile homes and boats are not accepted either.

Accepted: household garbage, construction and demolition debris, yard and green waste, dirt, rocks, and appliances.

If your load is mostly fine but has a few gallons of old paint or a car battery in it, pull those out first. A Mesa resident can drop paint, chemicals, batteries, and up to five tires a day at the city's Household Hazardous Materials facility for free. That and every other East Valley drop-off is in the East Valley dump and drop-off list.

Before you drive out there

• Tarp it. Not optional, and the $20 fee is more than a tarp costs.
• Sunday is out. Which is exactly when most people have time, and it is the single most common wasted trip.
• Bring help. You unload it yourself, in the open, in whatever the weather is doing.
• Do not go at 3:55pm. You need time on the scale and time to unload.

Or skip the trip

A landfill run costs $15 and half a Saturday, plus a truck, a tarp, and somebody to help lift. That is a good deal right up until the pile is bigger than the truck or the heavy thing is at the back of the garage. We haul it for a flat price quoted before anything gets loaded, disposal fees included, and you do not touch it. Text a photo of the pile to (480) 316-1884 and you usually have a number back within the hour. Here is how the pricing works, and every option side by side if you want to compare.

Salt River Landfill questions

Hours, rates, and the prohibited list checked 2026-09-25 against saltriverlandfill.com and mesaaz.gov. Landfills change their fees without much notice, so call (480) 941-3427 before a long drive.