Load rules / accepted & banned
What goes in a dumpster in Louisville.
Most of what a cleanout or remodel produces loads without a second thought. The exceptions are set by county ordinance, two states' statutes, and the receiving landfill's own gate rules — here is the whole list, so nothing gets sorted out of a full box at pickup.
01 / LOAD IT
What loads without a phone call.
The everyday debris our containers exist for.
General household goods, furniture, clothing, boxes, and the accumulated contents of basements and garages. Remodeling debris — drywall, lumber, trim, cabinets, countertops, flooring, tile. Construction and demolition debris from renovation and tear-out work. Shingles and roofing material, with the weight terms planned in the quote. Dense material like concrete, brick, and soil is accepted work too, but it is quoted as its own load in a smaller box at a stated fill level, because weight caps those loads long before volume does.
A few items sit in the confirm-first column rather than the banned column: mattresses, electronics, and anything you are unsure about. Leave them visible, mention them on the call, and the answer is settled before delivery instead of at pickup.
Where the load actually goes
Loads from this metro travel to permitted facilities, and the biggest is WM's Outer Loop facility at 2673 Outer Loop — operating since 1969, serving communities in both Kentucky and Indiana. Its accepted list covers C&D debris, municipal solid waste, shredded tires, and industrial special waste, with a composting operation on site for yard and food waste. Rumpke also runs a transfer station on West Oak Street. Knowing the destination matters because the gate rules there are the practical law of your load — which is the next section.
02 / KEEP IT OUT
The banned list, and who bans it.
Some rules are the county's, some are a state's, some are the landfill's own gate.
The Outer Loop facility's unacceptable list is the baseline for every mixed load: batteries, items containing Freon or other refrigerants, electronics, fluorescent tubes, hazardous waste, lead-based paint, oil, and untreated medical waste. Kentucky notably has no statewide landfill ban on household electronics — the state encourages recycling instead — but the facility rule closes that gap in practice, so an old TV stays out of the box either way.
Household chemicals have their own front door: Louisville Metro directs motor oil, batteries, gasoline, chemicals, oil-based paint, pesticides, and solvents to Haz Bin at 7501 Grade Lane. Jefferson County residents can also self-haul odd items — tires, appliances, electronics, yard waste, construction debris — to the city's Waste Reduction Center on Meriwether Avenue, a residents-only option worth knowing when a single item is all that is left.
Yard waste: banned on both sides of the river
Jefferson County's ordinance is stricter than most people expect: no yard waste may be disposed of at any landfill or solid waste facility in the county except a compost facility, bulk woody waste carries its own landfill ban, and yard waste may not even be mixed with other solid waste set out for collection. The de minimis allowance is five percent of a load's volume, mixed throughout — a technicality, not a plan. Violations carry civil penalties of $50 to $2,500 per day, each day counting separately. Indiana matches the spirit by statute, banning vegetative matter — leaves, grass clippings, woody material — from solid waste landfills. Brush is compostable, not landfillable, everywhere we deliver; it just has to travel as its own declared load.
Tires, batteries, and Freon
Kentucky routes waste tires through permitted disposal channels and requires processing before landfilling — whole tires cannot simply be buried — while Indiana bans whole waste tires from landfills directly. Indiana statute also bars spent lead-acid batteries from landfills and prohibits landfilling appliances or vehicle air conditioners whose refrigerant has not been evacuated. On the Kentucky side the same items die at the landfill gate under the facility's own rules. Practical translation for your load: tires out, batteries out, and no refrigerator goes in a container with its Freon still in it, in either state.
| Material | Kentucky side | Indiana side |
|---|---|---|
| Yard waste / brush | Banned from county landfill disposal outside composting (local ordinance); 5% de minimis; $50–$2,500/day penalties | Banned from solid waste landfills by state statute |
| Tires | Permitted channels only; must be processed — no whole tires landfilled | Whole waste tires banned from landfills |
| Lead-acid batteries | Rejected at the receiving landfill's gate | Banned from landfills by state statute |
| Refrigerant appliances | Freon-containing items rejected at the receiving landfill's gate | Banned from landfills unless refrigerant is evacuated |
| Electronics | No statewide ban, but rejected at the receiving landfill's gate | Keep out of the load; confirm by phone |
Checked against the facility fact sheet, Louisville Metro ordinances, and Kentucky and Indiana sources — August 2026.
Unsure about one item? Ask before it goes in — sorting a full container costs everyone time.
Call (502) 237-7726 →03 / FAQ
Load questions, answered.
The gate rules and the statutes behind the short answers.
Can tires go in the dumpster?
No. Kentucky law routes waste tires through permitted channels, and tires sent to a contained landfill must be processed first — whole tires cannot simply be buried. Indiana bans whole waste tires from landfills outright. Set tires aside and tell us how many; they get handled as their own item, not as container debris.
What about old TVs, computers, and batteries?
Keep them out. Kentucky has no statewide landfill ban on household electronics, but the Outer Loop facility that receives this metro’s loads lists electronics, batteries, and fluorescent tubes as unacceptable — so the practical answer is the same as a ban. Louisville residents can take batteries and similar items to Haz Bin at 7501 Grade Lane, and on the Indiana side lead-acid batteries are barred from landfills by statute.
Can paint cans go in?
Wet paint, no. Louisville Metro directs oil-based paint, solvents, pesticides, and similar chemicals to Haz Bin on Grade Lane, and the receiving landfill rejects lead-based paint and oil outright. Confirm any paint, dried or otherwise, with us before it goes in the box.
A little brush got mixed into my remodel load. Is that a problem?
The county ordinance carves out a small allowance — five percent or less of the load volume mixed throughout — but do not plan around it. Yard waste is banned from county landfill disposal outside composting, penalties run $50 to $2,500 per day, and a load that looks too green can be questioned at the gate. Keep brush out of the mixed load and plan it as its own trip.