Effective Immediately: Alpha Ridge Landfill will no longer accept soil or large quantities of stone, brick, block, asphalt, and/or concrete from commercial contractors.
About
The Alpha Ridge Landfill accepts Howard County generated residential and commercial solid waste.
Any resident using a dump truck, box truck, trailer or rental vehicle is considered commercial and must cross the scales before disposing of material. Tip fees may apply.
Residential Hours
Transfer Station
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Residents' Convenience Center
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wood Waste Area
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Commercial Hours
Transfer Station
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Residents' Convenience Center
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wood Waste Area
Monday - Saturday, 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Residential Customers
Howard County residents can drop off small quantities of household trash and unlimited recyclables at the Alpha Ridge Landfill. In addition to single stream recycling, other hard-to-recycle materials are accepted.
Residents bringing construction and demolition debris from home remodeling projects are subject to a tip fee.
Proof of residency is required.
Commercial Customers
All commercial vehicles delivering solid waste to the landfill are required to purchase a nontransferable commercial landfill permit at an annual charge and follow all landfill rules; no commercial vehicles will be permitted to use the landfill without a permit. All permits are valid for the period from July 1st through June 30th.
Since July 2017, businesses no longer need a free permit to drop-off recycling. Small businesses may only bring material that was generated within Howard County.
Additional Information
Download our Alpha Ridge Landfill brochure. Printed copies are available for pick up at our office (9801 Broken Land Parkway).
Download our current Landfill Usage Rules.
Download our current Landfill Fees & Charges.
All commercial vehicles delivering solid waste to the landfill are required to purchase a nontransferable Commercial Landfill Permit at an annual charge and follow all landfill rules; no commercial vehicles will be permitted to use the landfill without a permit.
Residents may apply for a Special Exception permit for unusually high volumes of household trash.
Effective Immediately: Alpha Ridge Landfill will no longer accept soil or large quantities of stone, brick, block, asphalt, and/or concrete from commercial contractors.
The following items are PROHIBITED for disposal at Alpha Ridge Landfill:
- ammunition
- automobiles
- chemical or petroleum cleanup material unless pre-approved by the landfill supervisor
- controlled hazardous substances as defined in COMAR 26.13.02.03
- dead animals
- drums or tanks, unless empty and flattened or crushed with ends removed; containers previously containing hazardous waste must be emptied properly in accordance with COMAR 26.13.02.07
- engine blocks (over 2')
- explosives
- hot ashes
- infectious waste
- liquid waste except small containers contained in household waste
- pathological waste
- radioactive waste
- radiological waste
- septage waste
- surgical hospital waste
This is not an exhaustive list. Please refer any questions concerning disposal of special wastes to a landfill supervisor.
Holidays
County offices and Alpha Ridge Landfill will be CLOSED on these holidays:
- New Year's Day
- Labor Day
- Memorial Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Independence Day
- Christmas Day
Inclement Weather
When inclement weather is in the forecast, the Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Environmental Services monitors the weather and road conditions to make a swift decision regarding the Alpha Ridge Landfill operations. For more information, visit our website.
Schedule a tour of the Residents' Convenience Center, our state-of-the-art Composting Facility or both! Bureau staff will guide your group and discuss what is collected and what happens to all those items. Tours are typically scheduled Monday-Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Contact us to schedule.
Alpha Ridge Landfill is Howard County's third public landfill, and the only public landfill open to accept waste. Alpha Ridge landfill was opened in 1980, and is located on a 550 acre site, of which 190 acres is permitted for landfilling.
Although all household trash collected from Howard County homes is currently being exported to a private landfill located in King George County, Virginia, residential and commercial trash is still being accepted at Alpha Ridge Landfill. A small portion of Howard County trash continues to be buried at the Alpha Ridge Landfill.
- Howard County's existing landfill opened in May 1980 at a cost of $5.25 million, including 590 acres of land costing $1.2 million.
- From 1980-1993, the initial unlined area of 68 acres received 2.3 million tons of waste.
- In January 1993, a 38 acre lined cell (4-10 acre sub-cells) was finished at a cost of $7.6 million, including a leachate handling system. Current landfilling averages less than 30 tons per day.
- Peak year for filling was 1989 at 287,000 tons.
- Another 80 acres can be used to construct lined landfill cells in addition to the 110 acres currently developed.
- The 68 acre unlined cell has been capped, which includes landfill gas extraction and groundwater remediation systems.
- Current annual operating cost is $10.0 million (not including debt service). This includes groundwater monitoring and treatment.
- From Alpha Ridge Landfill, 129,779 tons of waste were exported to King George County Landfill in Virginia in 2023.
- From Alpha Ridge Landfill, outgoing recyclables totaled 21,248 tons in 2023.
- In addition, residential curbside single-stream recycling totaled 22,827 tons in 2023.
- In 2022, Howard County achieved a 49.65% diversion rate.
Save yourself a trip to the landfill! Many items can be donated or recycled elsewhere. Visit our website and search for how to properly sort your waste.