Weight and comparison tools
Load weight calculator: from the size of a pile to pounds
Choose the material and type the size of the pile in feet. The tool gives cubic yards, pounds and tons, using the EPA conversion factor for that material.
Independent site, not a waste hauler or a landfill operator.
How much a load weighs, from its size
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Estimated weight
611 lbs
| Volume | 2.22 cubic yards |
| In tons | 0.31 tons |
| EPA factor used | 275 lbs a cubic yard |
EPA volume-to-weight conversion factors (April 2016). Loose material; a packed or wet load weighs more.
A load weight calculator turns the volume of a pile into the weight a landfill scale will read, so you can tell in advance whether a load stays under the minimum charge or how many tons you will pay for. The volume is length times width times height in feet, divided by 27 to get cubic yards. The weight is that volume times a density for the material. This tool uses the factors the EPA published in April 2016 for converting waste volumes to weights: about 275 lbs a cubic yard for loose household trash, 250 for yard waste, 467 for drywall, 731 for asphalt shingles and 860 for broken concrete. The same space can therefore weigh three or four times more depending on what fills it. Wet or compacted material weighs more than these loose figures.
Fee schedules read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the fees are read and priced
The ten EPA factors used here
| Material | Lbs per cubic yard | Lbs in 2 cubic yards | Share of a ton in 2 cubic yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Household trash, loose | 275 | 550 | 28% |
| Yard waste, loose | 250 | 500 | 25% |
| Branches and prunings | 127 | 254 | 13% |
| Mixed construction debris | 417 | 834 | 42% |
| Drywall (gypsum board) | 467 | 934 | 47% |
| Clean lumber | 169 | 338 | 17% |
| Asphalt roofing shingles | 731 | 1,462 | 73% |
| Broken concrete | 860 | 1,720 | 86% |
| Dirt and sand | 929 | 1,858 | 93% |
| Carpet | 147 | 294 | 15% |
Two cubic yards is a pickup bed of average size filled a little above the rails. Filled with household trash, it stays around a quarter of a ton; filled with dirt, it would be close to a ton, which is more than many pickups are rated to carry. Check the payload printed on the door pillar of your truck before loading heavy material.
Why weight decides the bill
At a weighed site the scale reads the full vehicle on the way in and the empty vehicle on the way out, and the difference is billed. Below the minimum, weight changes nothing: at North and South transfer stations in Seattle, the $37 minimum covers up to 420 lbs. Above it, each extra hundred pounds costs a twentieth of the per-ton rate. At flat-rate sites weight matters only when the load is too heavy for the flat lane. The per-ton page applies these rules to each site, and the truckload page prices a pickup bed in one step.
The EPA factors were compiled from several studies and describe typical loose material. They are good enough to choose between sites or between one trip and two. They are not the scale: a pile of wet leaves, soaked carpet or packed soil can weigh far more than its loose factor. The EPA memo lists the original sources of each factor.