Most of what leaves a house in this county ends up at one facility in Diamond Springs. Some of it costs nothing to drop off, some costs more than people expect, and one county rule catches almost everybody out. Here's the whole picture — including the parts where you don't need me at all.
The El Dorado Disposal Materials Recovery Facility, 4100 Throwita Way in Diamond Springs — some listings give it a Placerville address, it's the same place. Open seven days a week on (530) 626-4141, with shorter hours on major holidays. The hauler and the county both publish 8am to 5pm; the City of Placerville lists it as 8:30am to 4pm, so if you're arriving late in the day it's worth a call first. It's where I take most of what can't be donated or recycled somewhere better, and it's where you'd go hauling it yourself.
Three things, at no charge. Household recyclables — rinsed bottles, tubs, jugs and jars, clean paper, glass containers, and metal food and drink cans. All electronic waste, including televisions, monitors and computers. And scrap metal of any kind. If a load is only those things, the trip costs you nothing but the drive.
Construction debris, green waste, appliances, tires, mattresses and general household trash are all charged. They also won't take plastic bags or lids, rigid plastics like five-gallon buckets, or sod — the dirt and plastic in it contaminate the load. Hazardous material is refused at the main gate entirely; there's a separate process for that, further down.
County ordinance adds a 25% surcharge to any unsecured load arriving at the facility. Not a tarp thrown loosely over the top — properly secured. It is the most common way a self-haul trip ends up costing more than planned, and it's why a pickup bed piled high under one bungee cord is a false economy. Everything that leaves in my trailer goes out tarped and strapped, and that's part of what you're paying for.
This is the one worth knowing before you call anyone, including me. El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park each have a recycling center — 4421 Latrobe Road and 3350 Saratoga Lane, both Tuesday to Saturday — that takes up to two cubic yards of green waste a day at no charge, but only from residents of that town's own Community Services District. Placerville is the exception people get caught by: the center on Truck Street is bottle-and-can buyback and household batteries only, and takes no green waste at all. Separately, El Dorado Disposal customers across the franchise area get an annual voucher toward a free green waste load — worth calling (530) 626-4141 to confirm yours, because the published amount differs by area. If your clearing job fits inside those limits, take it yourself and keep the money. Defensible space work rarely does: one afternoon of brush clearing usually runs to several times two cubic yards, which is the point where a trailer starts to make sense.
California bans electronic waste from household trash. Televisions, monitors, computers and similar equipment cannot legally go in the bin, which is exactly why they sit in garages for years. The Diamond Springs facility takes all of it free of charge. There is no good reason left to still own a dead CRT television.
California runs a statewide mattress recycling program, paid for by a fee already collected when the mattress was bought, and drop-off is free at participating collection sites. Retailers are also required to take the old one away when they deliver a new one — worth asking before you pay anybody to haul it. One caveat: El Dorado Disposal lists mattresses as a charged item at the Diamond Springs facility, so the free participating sites are not necessarily the same place. Check byebyemattress.com for the nearest one before assuming.
No junk removal service in California can legally take these, mine included. El Dorado County residents can drop household hazardous waste free at the Diamond Springs facility on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 4pm, closed between noon and 1pm. Charges apply to business waste. It's a different gate and different hours from the regular tip — turning up on a Tuesday with a trunk full of paint cans won't work.
South Lake Tahoe Refuse runs a transfer station at 2140 Ruth Avenue that takes household hazardous waste Tuesday through Saturday, 9am to 4pm — by appointment only, on (530) 542-8368. The appointment requirement is the part that catches people out. Call before you drive up.
Honestly: if it fits in your vehicle, it's inside the free allowances, and you have a free morning, take it yourself. That covers most single-item trips and a good deal of green waste. It stops adding up when the load needs more than one run, when it won't fit in a car without folding the seats down, when it's a mattress or a fridge or a treadmill that needs two people and a ramp, or when it's upstairs. My minimum is $165 and pricing is by the cubic yard, so the comparison is an honest one: a couple of hours of your time, the fuel, the tip fees and the 25% risk on an unsecured load, against one phone call.
Compiled 14 September 2026 from El Dorado Disposal's own facility pages, El Dorado County's household hazardous waste listings and its burn-alternatives guidance, and the Mattress Recycling Council. Facility hours, fees and free allowances change, and this page is a starting point rather than a substitute for calling ahead. If you spot something here that's gone out of date, tell me and I'll correct it.
Send a photo and your location and I'll give you a firm total before anything is loaded. Tarped, strapped and taken to the right facility.
