The public dump near Pasadena, and who is allowed to use it

The landfill details below come from the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and the City of Glendale, and the Pasadena details from the City of Pasadena. Hours and fees change, so call before loading.

Where it is

Scholl Canyon Landfill sits in the City of Glendale.

The contact number is on the Sanitation Districts page for the site.

• 7721 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90041
• Just north of the CA-134 Ventura Freeway
• The mailing address reads Los Angeles, which trips people up

What the site takes

The Sanitation Districts list three things for this site. Clean dirt, with the exception of dirt from bottom dump trucks, which is prohibited here. Clean asphalt. Green waste.

That is a narrower list than most people expect from a landfill. If the load is household junk, furniture or an appliance, read the Sanitation Districts page for the site before driving out there.

The wasteshed rule, which is the one that catches people

An ordinance passed by the City of Glendale limits disposal at Scholl Canyon to waste generated inside a fixed list of places. It is not about where you live or where you drive from. It is about where the waste came from.

The incorporated cities on the list are Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino and Sierra Madre. The unincorporated communities on it include Altadena, La Crescenta and Montrose, and the ordinance defines three further unincorporated areas by their borders rather than naming them.

So a load from Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Temple City, Alhambra, San Gabriel or Burbank does not qualify, even though every one of those is close by. For an unincorporated address, the Sanitation Districts page for the site is the one to read.

Fire debris

Scholl Canyon is an unlined landfill, and it is not allowed to take disaster related waste, including burnt material. Debris that did not burn is handled there under the site’s standard procedures, so a load matters less for the storm it came after than for what is actually in it.

Burnt material needs a different site, so it is worth finding out where before anything is loaded.

Paying at the scales

Cash, debit, or MasterCard, American Express and Discover. No checks, and Visa is not on the list. A pre arranged credit account also works.

Rates change on a published schedule, so the live figures are worth checking rather than trusting a number on anyone else's page.

A couch, a mattress or a fridge

None of those three are on the list Scholl Canyon takes. The site lists clean dirt, clean asphalt and green waste, so a sofa in the back of a pickup is a wasted trip.

For a household in Pasadena the city route is its own bulky item collection, which Public Works runs by appointment only, and only for households whose trash service the city provides. If the city does not collect your trash, that route is closed too.

Otherwise it is a hauler. The item pages cover what each job involves: furniture removal, mattress removal and appliance removal.

Paint, chemicals and batteries

These do not go to a landfill at all. Pasadena is blunt about it: household hazardous waste cannot go in the garbage, into storm drains, or on the ground.

For permanent drop off the city points residents at the S.A.F.E. Collection Centers that the City of Los Angeles maintains. Pasadena also sends residents to one day collection events put on by the county Sanitation Districts, which any Los Angeles County resident may use.

Paint, chemicals or batteries in the pile are worth naming in the text with the photo.

Televisions, computers and other electronics

Electronics go the same way as hazardous waste rather than into a landfill load. Pasadena sends electronics to the same S.A.F.E. Collection Centers.

Pasadena also runs its own one day e-waste and document shredding events through the year, scheduled around space at the Rose Bowl. Worth checking the city calendar before paying anyone.

Why so much of it ends up on the roadside

A load that gets turned away at the gate has to go somewhere, and a mattress on a side street is what that often looks like. It is usually not malice. It is the fourth thing that went wrong that morning.

Illegal dumping carries fines and the city still has to pay to clear it, so the cost lands on everyone. Knowing the rules before loading is most of the fix, which is the whole reason this page exists.

Or the crew can take it

A dump run costs more than the gate fee. It is the trailer or the truck, the fuel, the loading, the drive, the line at the scales, and most of a Saturday. Then there is the chance of being turned away at the gate for the wrong town or the wrong material.

That is the job the Precise crew does. Pricing starts at $50, they do the loading, and the load goes somewhere that will take it. The team works 8 AM to 8 PM every day and gives a two-hour arrival window.

Text or call (626) 590-3118 with what you have got.