Solid Waste

City residents are proudly served by our own city-owned sanitation franchise.  The city owns two automated collection trucks, one hook truck and one drop box truck as well as a CAT, Compactor and Scraper for landfill operations. 

We offer everything from our minimum service requirement – one 90 gallon container per residence and/or business, emptied once a week to daily service Monday-Friday’s as well as large open top drop box containers.  For sizes please view the drop box information sheet.  For solid waste rates please view the rate resolution sheet or give us a call.

In order to receive service, please have the can out by 6 a.m. on your collection day.  If you do not have the can out in place and we are requested to go back a second time, there may be an off-route fee assessed. 

Please do not overfill your container.  You pay for what fits inside the container with the lid closed completely.   If it is overflowing, making a mess, we will not attempt to empty it.  Your waste WILL end up on the ground.  If it is overflowing a bit and waste falls on the ground and we dump it, you will be charged for us to clean it up and an overload fee.  If you do not bag your trash, we ask you to start.  It is less expensive to get a second regular can if you have excess waste than one off-route or overflow fee! 

We also offer additional temporary services for times when you may have extra waste.  Temporary 300 gallon containers are a great bargain and are only $17.85 per dump.  You can have them for up to two weeks, every three months.  Additional fees are added to your next city utility bill. 

If you have questions on placement or the day of collection please contact Public Works Department at 541-938-8270, 8272 or 8274. 

OUR LANDFILL IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC with the exception of our two cleanup events in April and October.  These events are for city-refuse paying customers only and tickets are sent out in your utility bill just before the event.  Please read the rules on what is allowed and what is not allowed and bring your ticket along with your most recent bill for admittance.  Back in 1999 we were forced to close our landfill to the public by our DEQ permit. Since that time we have installed a scale, which allowed us to open the facility for the two cleanup events ONLY.  We have had to limit the amount we receive per household to keep within our guidelines as well as current laws such as E-waste. 

Items NEVER ALLOWED in your garbage can or the landfill:

• E-waste is NOT allowed in our landfill – please recycle it.  Click here for e-waste information.
• Burn Barrels
• Batteries – recycle them!  Places that sell automotive batteries also take in old ones to recycle (there may be a fee).
• Tires
• Hazardous Waste (household, automotive, medications, medically generated waste, sharps, etc.)

Not only is it the law, but it is also our goal to recycle as much as possible, even at the landfill!  We sort collected materials for metals, brush/natural materials and tires (only for events up to limit or pay per tire up to limit) and then there is the remaining trash that actually goes into the landfill cell.  Click here to learn more about recycling in Milton-Freewater.  The City also picks up and recycles leaves in the fall and Christmas trees in early January.

For every ton of waste we place in the cell we in turn pay the DEQ fees and it fills up the existing cell resulting in the need to dig with our scraper a new area for future waste to go.  This all costs money and this is what the rate you pay covers, along with the comprehensive soil and groundwater testing as required by the DEQ to ensure we are meeting the levels deemed safe by the EPA and DEQ.

Cleanup Events