Environmental Services

Miramar Landfill

A Division of City of San Diego Environmental Services Department

ATTENTION LANDFILL VISITORS: Access to the Miramar Landfill is limited to trash disposal, recycling and other landfill business. Casual visitors are prohibited due to safety issues. For information on accessing the Miramar Landfill Monday through Friday during normal business hours, or other questions, please call 858-694-7000.

INCLEMENT WEATHER: Due to rain or other weather-related issues at the landfill and greenery operations, the City, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to temporarily close to vehicles with trailers. This would occur in the event conditions at the tipping deck are not conducive to the maneuvering of vehicles with trailers. It becomes a safety issue to both the public and our employees and a hindrance to operations when dealing with incapacitated vehicles..

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General Information

  • Almost 910,000 tons of trash are disposed of yearly at the Miramar Landfill.
  • The landfill spans over 1,500 acres and is the City of San Diego's only active landfill.
  • The landfill opened on December 7, 1959 and has since operated in three areas: north, south and west.
  • The South Miramar Landfill operated from 1959 to 1973. The North Miramar Landfill operated from 1973 to 1983. The West Miramar Landfill, which is still in operation today, opened in 1983.
  • At this environmentally secure, lined landfill, the City's trash is covered daily in conformance with regulatory and environmental requirements.
  • Closed areas of the landfill are revegetated with native plants cultivated in the Landfill Nursery.
  • Methane, a greenhouse gas, produced as a byproduct of the landfill, is captured and used to provide 90% of the fuel to power electrical generators at the Metropolitan Biosolids Center and North City Water Reclamation Plant to total 10MW.
  • In addition, high quality mulch, compost, and wood chips are made at the Greenery and are available to the public.

Location and Hours

Miramar Landfill is located north of Highway 52 at 5180 Convoy Street.

Monday - Friday: 7 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays and most holidays: 7 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

LANDFILL: Self-dumping vehicles accepted until 4:30 p.m.
(NO clean fill dirt program trucks after 4 p.m.)

 

GREENERY: City Personnel Tractor Loading "only" until 4:30 p.m. (fees apply)

The Landfill is CLOSED on New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Operations

Facts

  • Approximately 446,000 vehicles bring trash to the Miramar Landfill each year.
  • About 1,100-1,200 customers bring materials to the landfill each day.
  • The landfill is open 361 days a year, rain or shine.
  • About 3,900 tons of trash are accepted on weekdays and lesser amounts on weekends.
  • Customers' vehicles are randomly checked for hazardous materials.
  • Approximately 41,000 pounds of hazardous substances are discovered and diverted for proper disposal.
  • San Diego, with a population of over 1.3 million, disposes over 910,000 tons of trash per year. At this rate of disposal, the only City-run landfill, the Miramar Landfill, will likely be filled to capacity and close by 2030.
  • The City's trash reduction and recycling programs, aided by innovative engineering, have helped extend the landfill's working life, originally scheduled to close as early as 1995.
  • All cities in California are required to reduce, reuse, or recycle half of their trash or be subjected to a $10,000 per day fine. In 2006, the City of San Diego met this requirement with a 55% diversion rate. Today we are at a 67% diversion rate.
  • Trash composition studies indicate that two-thirds of San Diego's trash can be recycled.
  • San Diegans throw away enough recyclables to:
    • energize over 181,000 households for a year;
    • conserve 3,355,937 barrels of oil;
    • fuel over 400 cars for a year (156,610,400 gallons/25 miles per gallon/15,000 miles/year); and
    • risk our city being fined $10,000 per day by the State.

Solid Waste Collection Franchises

The City of San Diego operates a Non-Exclusive Solid Waste Collection System which currently consists of 12 companies PDF icon (City Franchisees) that provide collection services within the City of San Diego. These companies have franchise agreements with the City and pay franchise and AB939 fees.

The franchise system is governed by the PDF icon San Diego Municipal Code, Article 6: Collection, Transportation and Disposal of Trash and Solid Waste. These municipal codes include franchise requirements, exclusions, and the application process.

For more information contact the Franchise Administrator, Sam Merrill at 858-573-1253.

Publications

For questions or concerns, contact Environmental Services at 858-694-7000 or email [email protected].