Cincinnati roll-offs / material rules
What goes in a dumpster in Cincinnati.
The accepted list, the banned list, and the two-state wrinkles — drawn from the region’s landfills and both states’ rules so your load doesn’t bounce at the gate.
01 / THE LISTS
Load the box like the landfill will read it.
Everything in the container gets weighed, tipped, and inspected somewhere. Here’s what passes.
What goes in
The normal streams all pass: household contents and furniture, mattresses and box springs, remodeling debris, construction and demolition material — drywall, lumber, brick, concrete — plus shingles, carpet, cardboard, and scrap metal. That’s not a guess; it tracks the published accepted lists at both regional disposal points. Rumpke’s Cincinnati landfill on Struble Road lists municipal solid waste, construction debris, wood waste, demolition debris, mattresses, furniture, and appliances. Bavarian Waste in Walton, Kentucky publishes brick, block, concrete, masonry, wood, drywall, shingles, carpet, dirt, cardboard, asphalt, pavement, and metal, plus household garbage, furniture, and appliances.
Appliances carry one asterisk: refrigerators, freezers, and other refrigeration units need Freon handling — Bavarian requires certification for them, and Rumpke handles them under its own appliance rules. Flag any cooling appliance when you book.
What stays out — Ohio law
Ohio EPA bars municipal solid waste landfills from accepting hazardous waste, regulated PCB wastes, bulk or free liquids, untreated infectious waste from large generators, scrap tires, and source-separated yard waste that isn’t bound for composting. Ohio has also banned lead-acid batteries from its landfills since April 25, 2008 — car, motorcycle, wheelchair, and boat batteries all get recycled instead. Rumpke’s own prohibited list adds the practical items: pesticides, radioactive materials, medical waste, and fluorescent lamps and ballasts. If a container has a hazard label, liquid inside, or a battery attached, it stays out of the box.
The tire rule flips at the river
Tires are the cleanest example of this market’s two-state split. Rumpke’s Cincinnati landfill lists whole tires as prohibited. Kentucky statute KRS 224.50-856 keeps waste tires out of landfills unless they’re processed — but Bavarian’s public gate takes them for a per-tire fee: $5 off-rim, $10 on-rim, $15–$25 for large tires. Either way, the answer for your rental is the same: no tires loose in the roll-off. Tell us they exist and we’ll tell you the options.
Self-hauling a small Kentucky-side load instead? Bavarian posts its gate rates — $30.00 per ton with a $40.00 pickup-truck minimum, mattresses and box springs $10 each, plus a fuel surcharge — and is open Monday–Friday 7:00–4:30 and Saturday 7:00–12:30, closed Sunday. Its prohibited list mirrors the Ohio side: PCB wastes, liquid paints, free liquids, and hazardous, flammable, or corrosive material.
Yard waste has its own lane
A dedicated load of grass, leaves, or brush can’t ride to an Ohio landfill — the state routes source-separated yard waste to composting. Hamilton County residents get a direct alternative: R3Source runs three seasonal yard-trimmings drop-off sites, open March 21 through December 6, 2026 — Oakdale Elementary in Green Township and the Rumpke landfill site in Colerain Township on weekend mornings, and Bzak Landscaping in Anderson Township daily. Everything collected is composted or mulched. The rules are tight: Hamilton County residents only, brush under four feet long and twelve inches in diameter, bundles under fifty pounds, and no pallets, boards, soil, stones, bricks, or commercial loads. Brush mixed into a general cleanup load in the roll-off is a different question — describe the mix when you call.
Dense material: weight before volume
Concrete, brick, dirt, plaster, tile, and shingles are all accepted materials — and all weight traps. They hit hauling limits while the box looks half full, so dense loads ride in a 15- or 20-yard box with an agreed fill level rather than a 30. The size pages carry the details; the short version is: name the material, get honest terms.
Uncertain about a specific item — a paint can, a sealed drum, an old TV? Ask while it’s still outside the box. Call (513) 506-3038 and read us the label if you have to.
Accepted and prohibited lists checked against Ohio EPA, Kentucky statute, Rumpke, Bavarian Waste, and Hamilton County R3Source sources, August 2026.
02 / FAQ
Material questions, answered straight.
The items people actually ask about, with the local rules attached.
Odd item in the pile?
Use (513) 506-3038Name it before it goes in; rerouting is cheap, unloading isn’t.Can paint go in the dumpster?
Not as a liquid. Free liquids are barred from Ohio landfills, wet paint is off the accepted lists, and Bavarian Waste names liquid paints on its prohibited list. Ask about any sealed cans before loading them.
Can I put tires in a roll-off?
No — keep them out on both sides of the river. Rumpke’s Cincinnati landfill lists whole tires as prohibited, and Kentucky statute restricts waste-tire disposal. Bavarian Waste takes tires at its public gate for a per-tire fee, so set them aside and tell us they exist.
Can a refrigerator go in the dumpster?
Appliances are on the accepted lists at both regional facilities, but refrigeration units carry a Freon requirement — Bavarian requires certification, and Rumpke handles them under its own appliance rules. Flag any cooling appliance when you book so the load is planned for it.
What about a load that is only yard waste?
Ohio EPA bars source-separated yard waste from municipal landfills unless it is bound for composting, so an all-green load is not a normal roll-off job on the Ohio side. Hamilton County residents can use R3Source’s seasonal yard-trimmings drop-off sites instead. Describe the mix and we will point you right.