The Trail Road landfill: hours, fees and rules at the Ottawa dump.
The Trail Road landfill is the City of Ottawa's own dump, officially the Trail Waste Facility Landfill, at 4475 Trail Road off Moodie Drive, south of Fallowfield Road. It is open to the public Monday to Friday from 7 am to 6 pm, closed Sundays, and open only on the Saturdays the City lists on its page. Residential garbage costs $172.70 a tonne in 2026, and any load under 250 kg pays a flat $43.20. Payment is contactless only. You need CSA green patch boots and a hi-visibility vest to tip at the main face. The gate refuses asbestos, liquid waste, hazardous waste and commercial garbage, and since July 1, 2025 the City has banned industrial, commercial and institutional waste there for good, to stretch a site its own forecast has full around 2034 to 2035.
Weighing a dump run?
Send a photo of the load. We will tell you whether one trip to Trail Road does it, and what we would charge if it does not.
(613) 852-4059Where it is, and when the gate is open.
Ottawa calls it the Trail Waste Facility Landfill. Everyone else calls it Trail Road, or just the dump. The address is 4475 Trail Road in the city's southwest end, reached off Moodie Drive south of Fallowfield Road. It began taking waste in 1980.
Public hours are Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm. Sunday is closed. Saturday is the day that trips people up: the site opens on selected Saturdays only, and the City posts the next ones, with their shorter hours, at the top of its Trail Waste Facility page. That list changes through the year, so check it the week you plan to go rather than trusting a date you read somewhere else. This page names none for that reason.
Holidays work the same way. The City posts exceptions on that page as they come up. On Labour Day 2026 the site opened from 9 am to 5 pm, which is the kind of change you will only catch by looking.
Before you drive out: boots, a vest and a card.
Payment at the scale house is contactless: Interac, Visa, Mastercard or Amex. The City states it is not accepting cash or personal cheques until further notice, so a pocket of twenties gets you nowhere.
The safety rule decides where on the site you can unload. CSA-certified green patch footwear and hi-visibility clothing are required for anyone using the Main Disposal Area or Small Load Area #2, which is at the tipping face. Arrive in running shoes and you are limited to Small Load Area #1. The rate card lists a safety vest for sale at cost, $8.50. It lists no boots.
Sorting on site is allowed at the small load deposit area, and the City recommends doing it before you leave home. A load that arrives sorted is a shorter visit and, as the next section shows, often a much cheaper one.
What the scale charges, category by category.
Trail Road charges by weight and by what the load is. You cross the scale on the way in and again on the way out, and the difference is billed at the rate for that category. The full 2026 rate card is in the table further down. The four numbers most people need are these.
Residential garbage, which the City's table says includes construction material from the home owner, is $172.70 a tonne. Under 250 kg, which is 551 pounds, you pay a flat $43.20 instead. Clean fill, meaning asphalt, masonry and concrete without rebar, is $144 a tonne with a $36 minimum. Soil, sand and sod is $81.90 a tonne with a $20.50 minimum.
The fourth number is the one to avoid. A load that mixes garbage with recyclable material is $345.40 a tonne, with an $86.40 minimum. That is double the residential garbage rate for the same weight. Mixed brush and garbage is $314 a tonne.
Some things cost nothing if they arrive on their own: source-separated scrap metal, source-separated electronic waste, and up to 10 passenger or light truck tires a day from any one person. Every landfill fee is exempt from HST except potting soil, which the site sells while it lasts. Our renovation waste guide walks through how to split a reno load so it lands in the cheaper rows.
What the gate turns away.
The rate page closes with four plain refusals: no asbestos, no commercial garbage, no liquid waste and no hazardous waste.
Two further rules catch people. Oil tanks and drums must be cut in half or perforated many times before they are accepted, and the City says to call a waste disposal company if you cannot do that safely. And the site no longer takes glass, metal, plastic or cardboard packaging. Bottles, cans and boxes go in the blue and black bins at the curb.
Appliances with a cooling circuit need their refrigerant removed and a tag before any landfill accepts them. That rule, and where every other refused item goes, is in our guide to what a junk removal truck will not take.
Hazardous waste goes to a different address.
Paint, propane cylinders, solvents, pool chemicals and the rest of the household hazardous list never go to Trail Road. They go to the City's one-day household hazardous waste events, held at City snow dump sites, where you stay in your car and hand the load over. The 2026 events on the City's list run 8 am to 4 pm, and the dates are on its household hazardous waste page.
The events run to strict rules. You stay in your vehicle and staff take the items out of the trunk, so you cannot sort on site. Containers larger than 20 litres are not accepted, and a load over 100 litres is refused. Commercial waste is prohibited and the service is for Ottawa residents only. Electronics are not taken at events at all; those go to Trail Road free or to a retailer. If you carry anything in a cardboard box, the City asks for it double-lined with a garbage bag.
Without a car, the City has been piloting walk-up events with a limit of 20 litres per resident, and gasoline, car batteries and large propane tanks are refused at those. For the common items there is no need to wait for any event. The City's Waste Explorer lists retailers that take back paint, batteries, light bulbs and oil every day.
The commercial ban, and why the City brought it in.
Since July 1, 2025, Trail Road has not accepted waste from the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. Council approved the ban in 2024 as part of the Solid Waste Master Plan, and the City's landfill page now calls it permanent.
The reason is airspace. A 2025 City staff report to Council explains that commercial waste is bulky and hard to compact, so it fills the site faster than household garbage. About 24,000 tonnes of it arrived at Trail every year, and staff estimated that turning it away could add roughly one year to the landfill's life.
Three commercial streams are still accepted: leaf and yard waste, metal and electronic waste. For everything else, the City's page on other landfill sites lists four other sites and asks you to phone before going: the GFL Beckwith Transfer Station in Carleton Place, the Tomlinson Waste Recovery Centre on Westhunt Drive in Carp, Waste Connections of Canada on Navan Road, the former Huneault site, which takes no wet waste, and the Waste Management West Carleton Environmental Centre on Carp Road.
How long Trail Road has left.
The City's Waste Management Technologies Feasibility Study, tabled at committee on 17 June 2025, says Trail has about 16.9 million cubic metres of approved capacity, takes roughly 225,000 tonnes of mixed garbage a year, and had about three million cubic metres left at the end of 2024. At status quo disposal rates it forecast the site reaching capacity between 2034 and 2035.
That forecast is the one the City is trying to push back. The three-item curbside limit from 2024 cuts what reaches the site. The same report says the City planned to send a third of residential garbage, about 60,000 tonnes a year, to private landfills starting in 2026, which could add up to two years. An expansion inside the existing property boundary was in a provincial environmental assessment when the report was written, and staff put its potential at up to 15 more years if it is approved in full.
None of that replaces the landfill, which is why Council directed staff in June 2025 to study what comes after Trail: sending waste to private facilities, building a waste-to-energy plant, or opening a new landfill. For a resident with a trailer this week, nothing changes yet. For anyone planning years out, the dump at the end of Trail Road is a shrinking asset. The rate card moved too: residential garbage went from $157 a tonne in 2025 to $172.70 in 2026.
When a dump run costs more than a truck.
Hauling it yourself is often the cheaper answer, and we say so. One load under 250 kg is $43.20 at the gate. If you have a vehicle that holds it, a free weekday before 6 pm, boots and a vest, that is the cheapest route out of your garage.
It stops winning on repetition. Four small trips is four flat fees, $172.80, plus four drives to the southwest end and a lost workday. A rented truck or trailer adds its own bill. A mixed load that reaches the scale unsorted costs double per tonne. And the site will not help you lift a sofa off a third-floor landing.
For the other side of the comparison, our pricing page carries two Ottawa companies' published prices, attributed to them. Checked on their own pricing pages on 2026-09-14, Junk Ninja lists a quarter of a truck at $329 with taxes not included, and JunkPal lists a quarter load at $150 to $250 as an estimated range. Those are their numbers, not ours. We do not publish a price list; we quote on site before anything is lifted.
What happens when we take the load.
We separate as we load. Scrap metal and electronics come out of the pile because the City takes them free when they arrive on their own, and usable furniture goes to donation before anything is treated as garbage. Hazardous waste stays off the truck, and we tell you before loading which route each of those items takes instead.
If one trip in your own car will do it, we will say so on the phone. If it is a basement, a garage or a reno pile, call (613) 852-4059 about junk removal and send a photo of the load.
What Trail Road charges, and what it refuses.
Rates and rules from the City of Ottawa's Trail Waste Facility pages, read on 2026-09-14, and linked at the foot of this page.
| What you bring | 2026 rate at Trail Road | Condition the City sets |
|---|---|---|
| Residential garbage, including the home owner's construction material | $172.70 a tonne. Flat $43.20 under 250 kg. | Charged by weight above 250 kg (551 pounds). 2025 rate was $157. |
| Mixed garbage and recyclable materials | $345.40 a tonne. $86.40 minimum under 250 kg. | The price of arriving unsorted. |
| Mixed brush and garbage | $314 a tonne. $78.50 minimum under 250 kg. | Yard waste thrown in with garbage. |
| Fill: asphalt, masonry, concrete without rebar | $144 a tonne. $36 minimum under 250 kg. | Must be free of waste, including metal. |
| Soil: top soil, sand, sod | $81.90 a tonne. $20.50 minimum under 250 kg. | Must be free of waste. Over 5 tonnes needs pre-approval through 3-1-1. |
| Brush and yard waste | $141.90 a tonne. $14.20 minimum under 100 kg. | Leaf and yard waste under 20 cm in diameter. |
| Trees and stumps | $314 a tonne. $78.50 minimum under 250 kg. | Brush and trees over 20 cm in diameter, and stumps. |
| Woodchips | $152.30 a tonne. $38 minimum under 250 kg. | A separate rate from brush and yard waste. |
| Scrap metal and electronic waste | Free. | Source separated, with no garbage in the load. |
| Passenger and light truck tires | Free. | Up to 10 a day from any one person. |
| Glass, metal, plastic and cardboard packaging | Not accepted. | Goes in the blue and black bins at the curb. |
| Asbestos, liquid waste, hazardous waste, commercial garbage | Not accepted. | Hazardous waste goes to a City household hazardous waste event or a retailer take-back. |
The City of Ottawa publishes public hours of Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm, with Sundays closed. The site opens only on selected Saturdays, and the City lists the next ones, with their hours, on its Trail Waste Facility Landfill page. Holiday openings are posted on the same page; on Labour Day 2026 it opened 9 am to 5 pm. Check that page the week you plan to go.
At the City's 2026 rates, residential garbage at the Trail Waste Facility is $172.70 a tonne, and any load under 250 kg pays a flat $43.20. Clean fill without rebar is $144 a tonne, soil is $81.90 a tonne, and a load mixing garbage with recyclables is $345.40 a tonne. Source-separated scrap metal, electronics and up to 10 tires a day are free. Landfill fees are exempt from HST.
No. The City states the scale house takes contactless payment by Interac, Visa, Mastercard or Amex, and that it is not accepting cash or personal cheques until further notice.
To use the Main Disposal Area or Small Load Area #2 at the tipping face, yes. The City requires CSA-certified green patch footwear and hi-visibility clothing there. Without them you can still use Small Load Area #1. The City's rate card lists safety vests at cost, $8.50 each.
Not garbage. Since July 1, 2025 the City has banned industrial, commercial and institutional waste at Trail Road, and it describes the ban as permanent. Commercial leaf and yard waste, metal and electronic waste are still accepted. The City's other landfill sites page lists four private facilities, including Tomlinson in Carp and Waste Management's West Carleton Environmental Centre, and asks you to call them first.
Not yet, but it is filling. A 2025 City report forecast it reaching capacity between 2034 and 2035 at status quo disposal rates, with about three million cubic metres left at the end of 2024. The commercial ban, sending a third of residential garbage to private landfills from 2026, and a proposed expansion within the existing site are all aimed at stretching that date, and Council has asked staff to study what replaces it.
Not to Trail Road, which refuses it. The City runs one-day household hazardous waste events at City snow dump sites and lists the dates on its household hazardous waste page. You stay in your vehicle, containers over 20 litres are not accepted, loads over 100 litres are refused, and the events are for Ottawa residents only. Many retailers take paint, batteries, light bulbs and oil back daily; the City's Waste Explorer lists them.
Sources
- City of Ottawa, Trail Waste Facility Landfill: location, hours, safety and the IC&I ban read 2026-09-14
- City of Ottawa, Rates for the Trail Waste Facility Landfill read 2026-09-14
- City of Ottawa, Household hazardous waste read 2026-09-14
- City of Ottawa, Other landfill sites read 2026-09-14
- City of Ottawa, Waste Management Technologies Feasibility Study, ACS2025-PWD-SWS-0003, June 2025 read 2026-09-14
Rather skip the scale house?
Call or text for an up-front quote. Same-day and next-day service across Ottawa and Gatineau.