Junk removal in Vail
Vail has a school district and a post office and no town government, which means the rules for getting rid of things are Pima County’s, and the county’s rule is short.
Junk removal in Vail runs on the county’s one rule
Pima County’s waste page says it in a sentence: if you live outside the City of Tucson limits, you either hire a solid waste hauler or you self-haul to a disposal facility. The county licenses the haulers — the Department of Environmental Quality inspects them annually, permits each vehicle, and publishes a list of permitted solid waste haulers — but it does not collect anything itself and it runs no bulky pickup. Republic Services, which serves Vail, sells curbside trash and recycling by subscription and offers bulk pickup of items like a mattress or a refrigerator as an add-on; many Vail neighborhoods are in associations that set the hauler for the subdivision. Read your contract for what a bulk pickup includes, because it is the only free-ish option you have.
Brush and Bulky, the City of Tucson’s twice-a-year curbside collection, does not reach Vail. When people here say “the city won’t take it,” the accurate version is that there is no city.
Los Reales is a straight run down I-10
The one geographic advantage Vail has over the north side is the landfill. Los Reales Sustainability Campus is reached by turning south on Craycroft off I-10 — the same freeway that runs past Vail — so a self-haul is a single freeway leg rather than a crossing of the whole city. Rates: $18 for a covered load under 2,000 pounds, $38 a ton above that, $10 extra uncovered, $5 a tire, $20 per refrigerant appliance, and a $2 fee on every load; cards only, Monday to Saturday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Household Hazardous Waste drop-off on the same campus is Thursday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a Vail address pays $15 a visit with a driver’s license or utility bill, because the free rate is for city residents only.
A hauler’s price for a Vail job is the published truck-fraction range — $150 to $350 for a few items, up to $600 to $900 for a full truck — and the drive time is shorter than it is for Oro Valley or Marana.
Talk to an insured junk removal company who covers Vail — findings and price in writing.
Request a callbackDebris, dirt and rock on the east side
Vail houses are newer than most of Tucson’s, so the remodel debris here tends to be tile, cabinets and fence panels rather than lath and plaster, and the yard work after a monsoon storm produces a lot of rock and washed-out gravel. Clean inert material has homes closer than the landfill: Pima County lists the Drexel Land Reclamation Facility at 11330 E. Drexel Road, east of Houghton, as a clean-fill site, and Tank’s runs a land reclamation facility on S. Old Spanish Trail and a recycling and landfill facility at 11505 S. Wilmot Road. All of them are built for concrete, dirt, rock and construction and landscape waste, not household garbage; call for hours and the per-load price before a truck goes there.
The desert lot next door is not a disposal site
Vail is surrounded by open desert and cut by washes, and the county’s Available Services page lists wildcat and illegal dumping among the complaints it takes. It is unlawful in Pima County to dump or deposit solid waste anywhere other than an approved site, and a load of fence panels in a wash comes back in the next flash flood against somebody’s wall. A hauler who quotes suspiciously low for a Vail address is worth asking where the load will be tipped; the right answers are Los Reales, a WM transfer station, one of the inert sites, or a named donation center.
Questions people ask
Who picks up trash in Vail?
Whichever permitted private hauler you or your HOA contract with — Pima County licenses them but does not collect. Republic Services serves Vail with subscription pickup and offers bulk item pickup as an add-on. There is no municipal service and no Brush and Bulky.
Does Vail have a bulky trash day?
No. The City of Tucson’s Brush and Bulky does not run in unincorporated Pima County. A bulk pickup, if you have one, comes through your trash contract on its terms.
How far is the landfill from Vail?
Los Reales is off I-10 at Craycroft on Tucson’s southeast side — one freeway leg from Vail. It is open Monday to Saturday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and charges $18 for a covered pickup load under 2,000 pounds plus a $2 fee, cards only.
Where does construction debris from Vail go?
Mixed debris to Los Reales. Clean concrete, dirt and rock to the Drexel Road land reclamation site east of Houghton or one of the Tank’s facilities on Old Spanish Trail or Wilmot Road, which take inert and construction waste but not household garbage. Call for hours and prices.
Can I burn or dump brush on my own acreage?
Dumping, no — Pima County prohibits disposing of solid waste anywhere but an approved site, and washes are the worst place for it. Green waste goes to Los Reales at normal rates. For anything involving fire, ask the county before you strike a match; this page does not cover burn rules.
Services in Vail
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