Cincinnati Dump Fees & Landfill Guide for Junk Removal Operators
Current 2026 tipping fees for Cincinnati-area landfills, transfer stations, and C&D recyclers. Rumpke Landfill dominates — Hafner's C&D recycling is the operator edge.
Use the guidance with your local numbers.
Resource pages explain the planning model, but local disposal rates, labor costs, truck setup, service area, and customer demand still decide the final operating choice.
Typical disposal costs
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Six modules, one focused interface. No add-ons, no upgrade prompts, no per-feature pricing — just the tools that run your business.
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Six modules, one focused interface. No add-ons, no upgrade prompts, no per-feature pricing — just the tools that run your business.
Cost-saving playbook
Cincinnati's Rumpke monopoly means your MSW disposal rate is essentially non-negotiable without significant volume. The real margin opportunity is in diversion — every pound you route to Cohen (revenue), Hafner's (below MSW rates), or ReStore (free) is a pound you're NOT paying Rumpke to landfill. ScaleYourJunk tracks dump fees per job and per facility so you can quantify exactly how much your diversion strategy saves per month.
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Rumpke Sanitary Landfill does not publicly post tipping fees — rates are negotiated by commercial account based on volume, material type, and delivery method. A 2021 Clermont County reference cited $65 per load up to 1 ton, but this is likely outdated. Ohio's state disposal surcharge of $4.75 per ton applies on top of the base rate. Republic Services' Evendale Transfer Station also uses negotiated commercial pricing with no published rates. Set up a Rumpke commercial account by calling (513) 851-0122 to get volume-based pricing.
H. Hafner and Sons on Wooster Pike in the Linwood area is the best-value C&D option in Cincinnati. Their recycling-first model processes approximately 70 percent of incoming material — concrete becomes aggregate, metals get scrapped, lumber gets processed — which typically translates to lower tipping fees than MSW landfill rates for clean, sorted construction loads. Clean hard fill (concrete, asphalt, brick) may be accepted at even lower rates for aggregate reuse. Call (513) 321-1895 for current pricing.
Cohen Recycling in Norwood accepts Freon-containing appliances (refrigerators, freezers, A/C units) for $15 or less per unit — dramatically cheaper than the $70 to $150 Freon surcharges charged by landfills in other Midwest metros. Cohen also pays you market-rate scrap prices for the metal value of the appliance. Located at 5038 Beech Street, Norwood, open Monday through Friday 9 AM to 3 PM. Also at 12175 Reading Road in Sharonville. Always route appliances to Cohen instead of the landfill.
Effectively, yes. Rumpke is a family-owned company headquartered in Colerain Township that operates the only MSW landfill in Hamilton County — one of the largest in the United States, processing up to 12,500 tons per day. Republic Services operates a transfer station in Evendale but not a local landfill. This concentration limits pricing competition for MSW disposal. Operators can reduce their Rumpke dependence by diverting C&D to Hafner's, appliances and metals to Cohen or River Metals Recycling, and donatable items to Habitat ReStore.
The City of Cincinnati operates a Commercial Waste Hauler Franchise Program. Junk removal operators working within city limits should verify compliance requirements at cincinnati-oh.gov under the Office of Environment and Sustainability. This may require a franchise agreement or permit depending on the scope of your operations. Check requirements before booking jobs within Cincinnati city limits to avoid potential violations.
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Rumpke Dominates Cincinnati — Diversion Is Your Competitive Edge
ScaleYourJunk tracks disposal costs per job across every facility so you can quantify how much your sorting and diversion strategy saves each month.