Clean Fill and Yard Waste

Normal Hours of Operation

All Solid Waste and Recycling facilities operated by Las Cruces Utilities and the South Central Solid Waste Authority are open with their normal hours.

Old Foothills Landfill, accepting Clean Fill and Green Waste, and the Sonoma Ranch Recycling Drop Off Center, 555 S. Sonoma Ranch Blvd

Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Sundays – closed

If you prefer, you are still encouraged to bag your Yard Waste in clear plastic bags and set it out for the Green Grappler to pick it up on your regularly scheduled Grappler day. To find out when your next Grappler pickup day is, please click on this Grappler Calendar lookup link.

Clean Fill Material

Clean fill consists of materials that, when buried, will have no adverse effect on people or the environment. Clean fill materials include natural materials such as clay, soil, rock, and other inert materials.

Acceptable Clean Fill Materials

  • Asphalt
  • Bricks
  • Concrete – all rebar or wire mesh sticking out of the concrete must be shorter than two inches
  • Dirt
  • Rocks

Unacceptable Clean Fill Materials

  • Trash
  • Branches
  • Wood
  • Contaminated materials

Yard Waste Requirements

For your safety, the safety of our employees, and to keep the equipment in good operating condition, we ask that you follow these guidelines when disposing of your yard waste:

  • Tree limbs may not exceed 5-feet in length or 5-inches in diameter.
  • Palm trees must be less than 2-feet in length and diameter.
  • No dirt please, this includes sod, dirt root balls on plants, and dirt in raked material. Dirt and rock are damaging to the chipper.
  • Please take yard waste and tree leaves out of plastic bags, and dump in the pile
  • No trash in the yard waste. This includes paper and plastics.
  • Please check for any tools you may have left behind.
  • For yuccas please call Las Cruces Solid Waste Utilities 575-528-3700 ahead of time for a case-by-case evaluation to determine the best way to of dispose this
  • material while being mindful of the equipment.

Compost Material

Las Cruces Utilities takes all of the yard waste and recycles it into rich, organic, composted mulch. Yard waste is chipped, ground up, piled up, watered, turned, and left in the sun to “cook” for several months to destroy weed seeds and make compost material useful for landscaping.

Composted mulch is very useful in dust abatement and erosion control. It provides great ground cover to hold moisture longer, which in turn helps conserve water and promotes re-vegetation. For more information about water conservation, see Water Conservation.

Compost material is available free to residents; compost is also available to commercial customers on a first come, first serve basis (limited quantities while supplies last).

Fees

Clean fill and yard waste disposal at the Old Foothills Landfill is free to Residential customers. Commercial customers pay the current per ton fee for clean fill and yard waste disposal as listed in the Solid Waste Rates.

The Foothills Landfill accepts checks and cash as forms of payment for commercial customers, or you may be billed when an appropriate account is established through customer service.