Yard waste dumpster rental for brush, limbs, and land clearing

A yard waste dumpster rental from RO RO is one 15-yard roll-off: 405 cubic feet, $499 flat, with delivery, 7 days, up to 2 tons (4,000 lbs) of disposal, and pickup. Limbs and brush fill the can long before they reach the weight limit. Leaves and packed loads are the ones to watch on the scale.

Use it for hedge and tree trimming, overgrown lots, and land clearing. Tell us what is in the pile when you book.

How much brush fits in a yard waste dumpster

EPA’s 2016 volume-to-weight table lists branches and stumps at 127 lb per cubic yard, and prunings and trimmings at the same 127.⁠¹ Run that against the can:

• A full can of limbs and brush: 15 cubic yards × 127 lb = about 1,905 lbs. That leaves about 2,095 lbs of the 4,000 unused.
• Brush it takes to reach 4,000 lbs: 4,000 ÷ 127 = about 31.5 cubic yards. The can holds 15.

On a brush job, the top rail is your limit, not the scale. Debris goes no higher than the top rail. Nothing sticks up past it.

Leaves and packed loads get heavy

The same EPA table puts mixed yard waste at 250 lb per cubic yard uncompacted and 640 lb compacted, and leaves at 250 to 500.⁠¹

• Mixed yard waste, uncompacted: 15 × 250 = 3,750 lbs. Under the line by 250 lbs.
• Leaves at the high end: 15 × 500 = 7,500 lbs. At 500 lb per yard, 8 cubic yards uses the whole allowance.
• Mixed yard waste, compacted: 4,000 ÷ 640 = about 6 cubic yards to reach 4,000 lbs.

Packing a load down puts more weight in every yard. Heavy materials may require reduced fill levels.

Every load is weighed at the disposal facility and billed by certified scale weight. Past 2 tons, you pay $85 per ton. The math above is a guide, not a bill. The disposal weight allowance policy spells it out.

Keep yard waste separate

SC DES says Class 3 landfills take municipal (household) solid waste and nearly everything a Class 2 landfill takes, except land-clearing debris.⁠² State rules bar yard trimmings from Class 3 landfills.⁠³ Class 2 landfills take only construction and demolition debris, and SC DES lists land-clearing debris in that group.⁠²

Short version: South Carolina’s household-trash landfills cannot take yard trimmings. What that means for your can:

1. All yard debris: say so when you book.
2. Household trash mixed in: tell us before it goes in. Bagged trash and junk from the garage count.
3. Building scrap mixed in: tell us before it goes in. Boards, fence panels, shingles, brick, and drywall count.
4. Do not hide either one under the brush.

Local pickup draws the same line. Summerville will not pick up a yard debris pile with boards, lumber, tile, bricks, or plastic mixed in.⁠⁴ In its Hurricane Dorian release of September 11, 2019, Charleston County told residents to keep vegetative debris separate from trash and out of plastic bags. Debris in plastic bags went to the regular waste hauler.⁠⁵ If your leaves are bagged, say so when you book.

Town pickup has limits

Each town and county sets its own yard debris rules. Check yours before you build a curb pile.

• Goose Creek: curbside limbs no more than 4 feet long, 4 inches in diameter, and 50 pounds, with dirt removed from roots. No contractor-generated yard debris.⁠⁶
• Summerville: limbs no longer than 4 feet and no more than 6 inches in diameter.⁠⁴
• Dorchester County drop-off: residents can take leaves, shrubs, and limbs up to 4 feet long to the Miles Jamison or Sandy Pines convenience sites. No stumps. No contractor or commercial yard debris.⁠⁷
• North Charleston: no large stumps and logs, and no trash generated by contractors or landscapers.⁠⁸
• Mount Pleasant: no contractor-generated landscaping debris, and no tree stumps.⁠⁹
• City of Charleston: under Sec. 14-51, no tree debris generated by a hired contractor or builder.⁠¹⁰

A pile past those limits, or one a hired crew cut, goes in the can.

Stumps, root balls, and dirt

Text a photo of any stump to (843) 284-3707 before it goes in.

Dirt is what tips the scale. EPA lists dirt and sand at 929 lb per cubic yard.⁠¹¹ That is about 7 times the 127 lb it lists for branches and stumps. 4,000 ÷ 929 = about 4.3 cubic yards. That much dirt uses the whole allowance and fills under a third of the can. Knock the dirt off the roots before they go in.

Sod comes up with dirt on it, and topsoil is dirt. Plan either one with the concrete and dirt dumpster numbers.

Load it flat

1. Big limbs first. Cut them to lie flat on the floor of the can. A long limb leaning on the wall wastes the space under it.
2. Brush on top. Push it into the gaps between limbs.
3. Leaves and clippings last. They fill what is left.
4. Stop at the top rail. If the pile runs over one can, an additional haul is $300.

To size the pile, measure it in feet: length × width × height. Compare it to 405 cubic feet. Or text a photo of the pile to (843) 284-3707.

What stays out

Yard jobs turn up prohibited items: gas and oil for the mower, propane tanks, weed killer, old tires, and batteries. Fuels, oils, chemicals, pressurized containers, tires, and batteries are all prohibited. So are liquid or partly liquid paints, stains, and sealants. Restricted materials need approval before delivery. Prohibited material can get a load refused, and you pay the cleanup and special disposal. The full list is in the prohibited and restricted materials policy.

Where the can goes

On your driveway, you usually need no permit. On the street, placement may need a permit, and you get it. Check dumpster permits by city before you pick a spot.

Your rental runs 7 days. Each extra day is $10. Storm cleanup has its own page: storm debris dumpster rentals.

Next step

Call or text (843) 284-3707 with the address, what you are tossing, and the day you need it. Say whether the load is all yard debris. Or request a quote online.