Hauling a Load to the City of Midland Landfill? Read This First

August 28, 2026

The landfill takes almost everything — but the hours, the access fee, and the resident-only alternative a few miles away change the math on a DIY run.

Where It Is and When the Gate Is Open

The City of Midland Landfill sits at 7901 E. Garden City Highway, east of town off Highway 158. The gate is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is closed on Sundays, and holiday weeks shift the schedule — the City closed it entirely for Labor Day 2026, for example.

Those hours matter more than they look. A weekday cutoff of 4 p.m. means most people working a normal schedule get exactly one five-hour window a week — Saturday morning — and that window is shared with everyone else in Midland County who had the same idea.

What It Costs to Drive a Load In

The City publishes two numbers worth knowing before you load the truck. Vehicles without a valid Garbage Hauler's Permit are charged a $25 Landfill Access Fee in addition to regular landfill charges, and the scale house accepts card, cash, and check. The per-load disposal charge depends on what you bring; the Landfill Division answers rate questions at 432-685-3431.

The permit itself — $500 per year, per vehicle — is aimed at commercial haulers working inside the city, not at a homeowner making an occasional run. But the access fee applies to the vehicle at the gate, which is why a casual trip with a borrowed trailer costs more than people expect once the fee and the disposal charge stack up.

The Free Option Most Midland Residents Should Try First

If you live inside the city limits and the load came out of your own single-family home, the Citizens Collection Station at 4100 Smith Road and the Citizens Convenience Center at 6400 W. Highway 80 will take household items at no charge — Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The stations are strict about who and what they accept:

• Residents of the City of Midland only, hauling from their own single-family home — no landscapers, no contractors
• Anyone receiving payment to haul items from a residential site will be turned away
• Accepted: household furniture, mattresses, white goods like stoves and washers, brush, and standard recyclables
• Refused: construction material of any type, fencing, concrete, dirt, rock, tires, and hazardous waste
• Single-axle trailer loads only, and loads must be secured

What Neither Facility Solves

Notice the gap. The free stations refuse construction debris, concrete, dirt, and tires outright, and they refuse anyone hauling for pay or hauling from a property that is not their own home. The landfill takes far more — but only if you can load it, secure it, drive it out Garden City Highway during working hours, and pay at the gate.

A garage cleanout that fills a pickup bed three times over is three round trips, three loads strapped down, and three waits at the scale. That is the point where junk removal in Midland stops being a luxury and starts being cheaper than your own Saturday, especially for residential junk removal jobs where the hauling is the whole problem.

Sizing Up the DIY Trip Honestly

A fair self-check before you commit the weekend: does everything fit in one secured load, is it on the accepted list for the free station, and can you physically get it out of the house and onto the trailer? Three yeses and the DIY run is the right call.

Anything else — mixed debris, heavy items, no trailer, no free weekday window — and it is worth pricing the alternative against the access fee, the disposal charge, fuel, and the hours. The going market ranges are laid out on the cost guide, and the volume flowing through Midland's disposal system is covered in Midland waste, by the numbers.

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