The Wetaskiwin Sanitary Landfill is the city’s working dump — not a county transfer station, and not the in-town recycling depot. If you are standing in the driveway with a trailer of renovation waste, a fridge, or a load of branches, this is the page you want.
Hours, 2026 tipping fees, what they sort on site, what they will turn away at the scale house, and the difference between city and county options are all below. Confirm a statutory holiday on the Alberta stat holidays 2026 list — or a one-off fee change on wetaskiwin.ca — before you leave the yard.
Quick facts
| Official name | Wetaskiwin Sanitary Landfill |
| Address | 464047 Range Road 243, Wetaskiwin, AB |
| Hours | Monday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Closed | Sundays and all statutory holidays |
| Scale-house phone | 780-352-7772 |
| Public Works | 780-361-4436 |
| Resident tipping fee | $116 / tonne · $12 minimum (100 kg) |
| Non-resident fee | $129 / tonne · $31 minimum (up to 210 kg) |
| Payment | Cash, debit, Visa, Mastercard, on account |
| Operating since | 1977 · Class II landfill |
Where the Wetaskiwin landfill is
The site sits on Range Road 243 on the west / southwest edge of the city — rural addressing, scale house, working face, and separate piles. It is not at City Hall, not at the Operations Facility on 50 Street, and not at the Recycling Centre on 51 Street.
Punch 464047 Range Road 243, Wetaskiwin into Maps and you will land on the gate. From downtown it is a short drive; from the Queen Elizabeth II it is the Highway 13 exit into Wetaskiwin, then west toward Range Road 243.
Wetaskiwin Sanitary Landfill sits on Range Road 243, west of the city grid — not at the in-town Recycling Centre.
From downtown Wetaskiwin
Head west on Highway 13 (50 Avenue through town) and watch for Range Road 243. The site is a few minutes off the city grid. If you hit the QEII you have gone too far west.
From Edmonton / Leduc / the airport
Take the QEII south. Exit east onto Highway 13 toward Wetaskiwin. Stay on 13 into the west side of town and turn onto Range Road 243. Plan 50–70 minutes from south Edmonton depending on traffic around Leduc and the airport. If you are still mapping a move into the capital region, start with the moving to Alberta 2026 newcomer guide, then narrow the city search with best Edmonton neighbourhoods for families and cheap apartments in Edmonton for newcomers.
From Red Deer
QEII north to Highway 13, then east toward Wetaskiwin and Range Road 243. About an hour in decent weather. The same corridor is the Lacombe–Red Deer run and the longer Stettler to Red Deer drive. For what that mid-province cost of living actually looks like in 2026, use the Red Deer cost of living guide.
From Camrose or east county
Highway 13 west through town, then south/west onto Range Road 243. If you live in the County of Wetaskiwin rather than the city, read the county section below before you burn a trip — your cheaper option is often a transfer station, not this scale house. If you already came in from Camrose, stack the dump run with something that is actually pleasant on the way home.
Hours of operation
The gate is open Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Sundays and every statutory holiday.
That Sunday closure is the one people still get wrong. City council ran a short Sunday-hours pilot a couple of summers ago. It did not stick as regular service. Do not assume a Sunday drop-off.
2026 holiday closures already posted by the city include Victoria Day and Canada Day. Expect the same pattern on Family Day, Good Friday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas, and New Year’s Day — the full calendar is on our Alberta statutory holidays 2026 page. Garbage and organics collection on the street usually still runs on holidays except Christmas Day. The landfill does not.
Need the site opened outside posted hours? That is a paid call-out — $123 per call — and only if staff can actually come. Phone the scale house first: 780-352-7772
2026 landfill fees
Fees below are from the City of Wetaskiwin Fees and Charges Bylaw in force for 2026. They did not move from 2025. Always weigh the load. Guessing cubic metres in the driveway is how a $12 minimum becomes a $116 surprise.
| Service / material | 2026 fee |
|---|---|
| Tipping fee (household / general waste) | $116.00 per tonne |
| Minimum charge per load | $12.00 (covers up to 100 kg) |
| Volume rate (when used) | $12.40 per cubic metre |
| Concrete and asphalt | $31.00 per tonne |
| Compost / leaf & yard waste — City residents only | Free |
| Clean wood — City residents (branches free) | $12.00 minimum |
| Clean wood — commercial | $116.00 per tonne |
| Commercial solid waste (local only) | $116.00 per tonne |
| Non-resident tipping (waste, compost, wood, concrete, asphalt) | $129.00 per tonne |
| Non-resident minimum | $31.00 (load up to 210 kg) |
| Untagged appliance still holding freon / refrigerant | $18.00 recovery + tipping fee |
| Tagged appliance (freon already removed) | Tipping fee only |
| After-hours / holiday staff call-out | $123.00 per call |
Payment at the scale house: cash, debit, Visa, Mastercard, or on account if the city has you set up. Bring a card. Do not assume they will invoice a one-off residential load.
City resident vs everyone else
The $116 rate and the free compost / free branch drop are for City of Wetaskiwin residents. If you live in the county, Millet, a summer village, or you are hauling from a job outside city limits, you are on the non-resident schedule: $129 per tonne and a $31 minimum.
Bring a utility bill or something that proves the address if there is any chance they will ask. Arguments at the window waste everyone’s Saturday.
How a drop-off actually works
Every load hits the scale. You stop at the scale house, they weigh you in, they look at what is in the box, and they send you to the right pile. You dump. You weigh out. You pay the difference.
- Household garbage goes to the working face.
- Metal, tires, compost, concrete, asphalt, and clean wood / branches each have their own area.
- Staff pack the working face daily and cover it every two days.
Sort before you leave home. A mixed load of framing lumber, dirt, and bagged kitchen garbage is how you lose the cheap (or free) streams and pay full tipping on the whole box. They can refuse a dripping or obviously prohibited load.
What to sort — and where it goes
Household garbage
Bagged residential waste that did not fit the cart, clean-out loads, and general refuse go to the working face at the $116 / tonne rate ($12 minimum). This is the expensive pile. Anything you can peel off into metal, wood, concrete, or compost saves money and keeps airspace in a landfill the city is already watching.
Yard waste and compost
Leaf and yard waste is free for City of Wetaskiwin residents. That is the single best reason to run a Saturday load in October instead of stuffing the grey cart. County and out-of-town loads of the same material are charged at the non-resident rate.
The in-town Recycling Centre does not take compost or branches. Those belong here.
Clean wood and branches
City residents: branches are free. Other clean residential wood is a $12 minimum. Commercial clean wood is $116 per tonne. Painted, treated, or dirty wood is not “clean wood.” If it is wrapped around nails, laminate, or household garbage, expect it to be treated as regular waste.
Concrete and asphalt
$31 per tonne — well under the general tipping rate. Keep it clean and keep it separate. Mixed rubble hiding in a garbage load will not get the $31 price.
Metal and tires
Both have dedicated areas on site. Tires are a regulated stream; the city’s 2025 operations report counted 2,430 tires handled separately from regular tonnage. Do not bury tires in the garbage pile.
Appliances (white goods)
Fridge, freezer, air conditioner, or anything else that still holds refrigerant: $18 recovery fee plus the tipping fee unless a certified tech has already pulled the freon and tagged the unit. Tagged appliances pay tipping only. Stoves, washers, and dryers without refrigerant skip the $18 surcharge.
What they will not take
The city’s waste bylaw is blunt. The following are prohibited at the sanitary landfill unless the city engineer has given special permission:
- Hazardous waste and hazardous liquids — paint, solvents, pesticides, acids, pool chemicals
- Oil, oil filters, and oil containers
- Wet-cell (automotive) batteries
- Propane tanks
- Liquid waste, sewage, and car-wash waste
- Biomedical waste
- Human waste (disposable diapers are the exception)
- Animal carcasses
- Loads dripping liquid
Do not show up with a leaking drum and hope. Take household hazardous waste to the city’s spring and fall Household Hazardous Waste Roundup (Fire Station 1 on 40 Avenue during the weekday window, Recycling Centre on the Saturday). Propane tanks go back to a refill station. Used oil and filters go to a registered oil-recycling drop, not the working face.
Do not confuse these three sites
Wetaskiwin has three public-facing waste addresses. Mixing them up is the most common local mistake.
1. Wetaskiwin Sanitary Landfill — this page
464047 Range Road 243. Scale house. Tipping fees. Compost, wood, concrete, metal, tires, appliances, household loads. Monday–Saturday, 9–5.
2. Wetaskiwin Recycling Centre
5707 51 Street, in town. Self-serve. Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week (gates close overnight after the 2026 safety change). Cardboard, tin, mixed paper, newspaper, household plastics #1, #2 and #5, light bulbs, and e-waste. No compost. No branches. No glass — glass goes in the garbage cart.
Curbside recycling under Alberta’s Extended Producer Responsibility program is scheduled to start in Wetaskiwin in early October 2026 through Circular Materials. Until those blue bags or carts are actually on the street, the 51 Street depot is still the everyday drop for fibre, tin, and accepted plastics.
3. County transfer stations + West Dried Meat Lake
If you pay taxes to the County of Wetaskiwin, not the city, your first stop is one of the county’s nine transfer stations (Bearhills, Buck Lake, Gwynne, Hilgartner, Lakedell, Millet, Mulhurst Bay, Peace Hills, Winfield). You need the county’s RFID transfer-station card — paper cards stop working after April 15, 2026.
Bulk county loads go to the West Dried Meat Lake Regional Landfill on Highway 609, a half-mile east of Highway 21 — a Camrose County site that also serves Wetaskiwin County, Millet, and Edberg. Different hours, different rates, different membership rules. Do not assume the city’s $12 minimum applies out there.
Why the city cares if you sort
The landfill has been operating since 1977. Footprint 1 closed around 1994. Current filling is in Footprint 2, built with engineered liners and leachate collection. A 2023–24 life-of-site estimate put remaining capacity somewhere between the late 2030s and about 2041, depending on how much organics and recycling stay out of the hole.
Curbside organics (green carts) started in May 2024. In 2025 the city managed about 9,330 tonnes of material and diverted roughly 40 percent of the solid stream — organics, recycling, scrap metal, wood, trees and compost, electronics, concrete and asphalt. Every Saturday load you split at the gate is part of that number.
A practical Saturday run
- Leave with time to be across the scale before 5 p.m. They will not wave a late trailer through.
- Tarp the load. Prairie wind on Range Road 243 will redistribute your renovation waste across the ditch.
- Separate metal, wood, concrete, and yard waste in the box so you can dump in sequence.
- City residents: bring ID or a utility bill if you want the free compost / branch rate without a debate.
- Fridges: get them tagged first or budget the $18 recovery fee.
- Hazardous leftovers stay in the garage until the next HHW roundup.
- If the load is only cardboard, paper, tin, or e-waste, skip the landfill and use 5707 51 Street.
FAQ
Is the Wetaskiwin landfill open on Sunday?
No. Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sundays and statutory holidays. Check Alberta stat holidays 2026 before a long-weekend clean-out.
How much does it cost to dump a half-tonne of household junk?
At the 2026 resident rate, $116 per tonne with a $12 minimum for anything under 100 kg. A 500 kg clean-out is about $58. A 90 kg trunk load is $12. Non-residents pay $129 per tonne and a $31 minimum.
Can I drop branches for free?
City of Wetaskiwin residents can. Compost and leaf/yard waste are also free for city residents. Out-of-town loads of the same material are charged.
Do they take a fridge?
Yes. Untagged units with refrigerant still inside pay an $18 recovery fee plus tipping. Have a certified tech pull the freon and tag the appliance and you pay tipping only.
Where do I take paint, batteries, and motor oil?
Not to the working face. Paint, solvents, pesticides, and similar household chemicals go to the city’s Household Hazardous Waste Roundup. Automotive batteries and used oil belong at a registered recycler. Propane tanks go to a refill station.
Is this the same as the Recycling Centre?
No. Recycling Centre = 5707 51 Street, 7 a.m.–7 p.m. daily, fibre / tin / limited plastics / e-waste. Landfill = Range Road 243, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Saturday, scale house and tipping fees.
I live in the county. Should I use this landfill?
Only if you are fine paying non-resident rates. Most county households are better served by their local transfer station (RFID card required after April 15, 2026) or West Dried Meat Lake if they have a participating account.
Who do I call if the road is drifted in or the scale is down?
Scale house 780.352.7772. Public Works / Operations Facility 780.361.4436.
If you are already in Wetaskiwin
A landfill run is not a day trip. If you have already come in from Edmonton or Red Deer, stack it with something that is actually pleasant: Reynolds-Alberta Museum is on the east side of town, and the Highway 2A corridor is the old Edmonton–Red Deer spine. Wetaskiwin sits in the same central-Alberta belt as Camrose attractions, the Innisfail farmers market, and the small-town stop at Trochu. Reynolds itself belongs on the same list as the other hidden gems most tourists miss.
Heading farther east or north after the drop? Use the Vegreville to Cold Lake drive, the parallel Athabasca to Cold Lake drive, then things to do in Vilna and Kinosoo Ridge night skiing if you are staying on the Cold Lake side. Farther east still: Wainwright bison and the border-city explainer Is Lloydminster in Alberta?.
If the drive home takes you through river valley or parkland at dusk, read wildlife safety tips for hiking in Alberta before you assume the ditch is empty. Families killing an extra hour in the capital after the dump run can use free things to do with kids in Edmonton or the best neighbourhoods to explore in Edmonton — Lucy the Elephant is the weird one kids actually remember.
The QEII belt, if you are comparing towns
Wetaskiwin is the old-highway town between Edmonton and Red Deer, not a Calgary suburb and not a mountain base. If you are weighing that against whether Airdrie is a good place to live or asking is Calgary still affordable in 2026, start with the first-timer’s guide to Calgary and keep the mountain weekends on a separate list: Calgary to Banff road trip, then Jasper to Kamloops if you are going all the way through. South of Red Deer the character stops change again — what Nanton is famous for, things to do in Drumheller, Sundre wild horses, and Saamis Tepee in Medicine Hat if the Saturday has turned into a longer central-and-south loop. Northwest of Edmonton, how far Mayerthorpe is from Edmonton is the useful distance check.
