What Is the Difference Between a Landfill and a Transfer Station?
A landfill is a final disposal site where waste is permanently contained. A transfer station is a temporary stop where waste is unloaded, consolidated and moved into larger vehicles before being transported somewhere else.
Landfills and transfer stations both receive waste, but they do not perform the same job. The easiest way to understand the difference is that waste normally passes through a transfer station, while waste that enters a landfill has reached its final destination.
Landfill vs. transfer station: the main difference
Final disposal
Waste is placed, compacted and contained at the site.
Temporary handling
Waste is combined into larger loads and transported elsewhere.
What is a landfill?
A landfill is an engineered disposal facility where approved waste is placed into designated areas, compacted and covered. Modern permitted landfills are designed and monitored to control environmental impacts, including water entering the waste, landfill gas and contact between the waste and surrounding soil or groundwater.
Not every landfill accepts the same material. Municipal solid-waste landfills generally receive household and commercial garbage, while construction-and-demolition landfills may accept materials such as concrete, brick, asphalt, drywall and lumber.
Once material is placed in a landfill, it normally remains there permanently. That is what separates a landfill from a transfer station.
What is a transfer station?
A transfer station is a facility where waste is unloaded from collection vehicles and held briefly before being reloaded into larger trucks, trailers, railcars or other transport vehicles.
The transfer station is not usually the final destination. Its purpose is to combine several smaller loads into a larger shipment that can be transported more efficiently to a landfill, recycling facility, processing facility or waste-to-energy plant.
Some transfer stations also sort material or recover recyclables before the remaining waste leaves the site. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, consolidating loads can reduce transportation costs and the number of collection vehicles traveling to a distant disposal facility.
How waste moves through a transfer station
Why do both facilities charge tipping fees?
A tipping fee is the charge for unloading material at a waste facility. A landfill charges for final disposal and long-term management of the waste. A transfer station charges for receiving, handling, consolidating and transporting the material to another facility.
This means a transfer station can sometimes cost more than a landfill because the waste must still be transported and disposed of after it leaves the transfer station. However, a closer transfer station may save time and trucking costs.
The simple answer
A landfill is where waste stays. A transfer station is where waste changes vehicles before continuing to another destination.
Landfill and transfer station questions
Is a transfer station the same as a landfill?
No. A transfer station temporarily receives and consolidates waste. A landfill is a final disposal site where approved waste is permanently contained.
Does waste stay at a transfer station?
Usually only briefly. Waste is commonly reloaded into larger vehicles and transported to a landfill, recycling facility, processing facility or waste-to-energy plant.
Why use a transfer station instead of going directly to a landfill?
Transfer stations combine smaller loads into larger shipments. This can make long-distance transportation more efficient and reduce the number of collection vehicles traveling to the final disposal site.
Can the public dump at a transfer station?
Some transfer stations accept public or contractor drop-offs, while others only receive waste from approved commercial haulers. Access and accepted materials depend on the individual facility.
Definitions and facility functions referenced from the U.S. EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
