Buena Vista Landfill

Buena Vista Landfill is the city landfill in Watsonville where everyday trash ends up being buried. Local residents and businesses bring household cleanouts and commercial loads here; it's the kind of place used when curbside pickups or transfer stations aren't an option. California's rules mean people often arrive with recyclables and organics already separated.

Drive up the access road and there’s usually a scale and an entrance booth to check in - landfills charge by weight, so plan for a stop on the way out as well. The site is large, with working faces of compacted soil and piles of incoming material; traffic moves slow and there are trucks and loaders around. Pull forward when directed, tip or unload at the instructed spot, then return to the scale for final weighing before departure. Weekends and spring clean-up times get busy, so expect lines at peak times.