Waste Management in Yates County
A plain-English guide to Yates County waste flow, the Ontario County Landfill closure, and the draft solid waste plan.
What this page is — and what it is not
PennYanCitizens.com is not the official source of solid waste records for Yates County, the Village of Penn Yan, Ontario County, or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Official agendas, minutes, plans, reports, and Freedom of Information Law responses remain with the agencies that created them. This page is a plain-English guide to those records. It explains what the documents say, what they do not yet answer, and where residents can look next.
Browse Waste Topics
Ontario County Landfill Closure
What the Ontario County Landfill closure means for Yates County's waste.
Recycling in Yates County
What New York law requires, and what records show whether it is enforced.
Solid Waste Management Plan
The draft plan, the decades-long planning gap, and where approval stands.
Waste & Recycling FAQ
Short, plain-English answers to common trash, recycling, closure, and records questions.
Looking for trash pickup or transfer station information? Start here.
Penn Yan residents usually arrange trash pickup directly with private haulers, not through the Village.
Yates County does not operate a residential trash collection system. Residents and businesses generally contract directly with private haulers — primarily Cardinal Disposal, Kennedy's Hauling, and others operating in the county. For specific service questions — pickup schedules, rates, what each hauler accepts — contact your hauler directly or see the official Yates County Recycling page.
Two transfer stations serve the county, both operated by Cardinal Disposal:
- Northern Yates Transfer Station: 2672 Guyanoga Road, Penn Yan (Town of Jerusalem)
- Southern Yates Transfer Station: 635 Shannon Corners Road, Dundee (at Cardinal Disposal headquarters)
What follows is not a service directory. It is a guide to how the waste-disposal system is structured, where the records are kept, and what is currently changing.
How trash collection works in Yates County today
Yates County does not operate a residential trash collection system or an active municipal solid waste landfill.
Two historical Yates County landfills have closed: Yates Co #1 in Potter closed in the 1970s or 1980s, and Yates Co #2 in Torrey closed in 1985. The only active landfill within the county today is the Lockwood Ash Disposal Site in Torrey, which handles industrial coal combustion residual waste only — not municipal solid waste.
Because the county has no operating MSW landfill, all residential and commercial waste must be transported out of county for disposal. That transportation is handled by private haulers, with two private transfer stations consolidating loads before they leave Yates County.
Where Yates County's waste goes today
Yates County has no active municipal solid-waste landfill, so all of its trash leaves the county. Today, waste picked up by private haulers is consolidated at two in-county transfer stations and routed primarily to the Ontario County Sanitary Landfill in the Town of Seneca, Ontario County.
The most recent year with a complete, facility-by-facility breakdown is 2022, reported in the county's draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan. Those figures — still the baseline the 2026 draft plan uses — show where the waste went:
2022 Yates County waste destinations (per draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan, Table 3-2)
| Destination | County | 2022 Yates County tonnage | Plain-English note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario County Sanitary Landfill | Ontario | 19,609.79 tons | Main destination (approximately 85% by tonnage) |
| Seneca Meadows Landfill | Seneca | 449 tons | Small share |
| High Acres Landfill | Monroe | 440 tons | Small share |
| Chemung County Sanitary Landfill | Chemung | 11.81 tons | Minimal share |
| Steuben County Landfill | Steuben | Approximately 25 dry tons biosolids | Not the main trash destination |
That corrects an earlier public misunderstanding: the landfill at issue is Ontario County, not Steuben County. The Steuben County Landfill appears in the records only for a small biosolids (treated wastewater solids) stream from the Dundee Wastewater Treatment Plant. It is not the main destination for Yates County trash.
Most Yates County waste is hauled to Casella Waste Systems' transfer facility at 1879 NY-5, Stanley, Ontario County, and then delivered to the Ontario County Sanitary Landfill on Routes 5 and 20 in the Town of Seneca, Ontario County. Smaller amounts are sent directly to other regional facilities.
Biosolids follow different paths depending on the wastewater treatment plant: the Village of Penn Yan plant landfilled 1,050.34 tons in 2022 to a destination listed as "Unknown Landfill" in the draft plan (a data gap PennYanCitizens.com is pursuing through Freedom of Information Law). The Village of Dundee plant land-applies most of its biosolids; a small portion goes to the Steuben County Landfill in Bath.
What changes when the Ontario County Landfill closes?
The Ontario County Sanitary Landfill is scheduled to close on December 31, 2028, when the 25-year operating lease between Ontario County and Casella Waste Systems expires. The Ontario County Board of Supervisors formally adopted the commitment to close by resolution on December 5, 2024.
Ontario County's own Landfill Alternatives Analysis Report (MSW Consultants, 2024) indicates that non-recoverable waste from Ontario County will likely be transported to landfills in Monroe County (High Acres) or Seneca County (Seneca Meadows). Yates County's waste, currently routed through Casella's Stanley transfer facility, would likely follow similar outbound paths.
Yates County's draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan acknowledges that the Ontario County closure could affect the county, but does not include a specific cost projection for taxpayers or a published post-2028 disposal contract.
The 2028 Closure — full analysis
A deeper look at the December 31, 2028 closure: Casella's role, where waste might go next, and what is and is not yet in the public record.
Read the full analysisWhy Yates County's new solid waste plan matters
Yates County's previous solid waste management plan expired on December 31, 2000.
The county has operated without an approved replacement plan for more than 25 years. A new draft plan, prepared by the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council on behalf of Yates County, is now under review. A public hearing was held March 9, 2026. The public comment period closed March 19, 2026. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation review and Yates County Legislature adoption are both pending.
The draft plan emphasizes diversion — reducing the amount of material that has to be landfilled — through 20 actions across five categories. It does not, by itself, identify a post-2028 disposal contract.
Yates County's Local Solid Waste Management Plan
Plain-English tracker for the draft plan, the 25-year planning gap, and the pending approval steps.
Read the solid waste plan trackerWhat must be recycled before waste is buried?
New York does not treat recycling as optional. State law required municipalities to adopt local source-separation laws for recyclable or reusable materials where economic markets for alternate uses exist. In plain English, certain materials are supposed to be separated before they are collected or delivered for disposal — not sorted out only after they reach a landfill.
Yates County's official recycling page states that recycling is mandatory in the county and lists required recyclable materials, including paper products, cardboard, glass, metal cans, aluminum, and plastic bottles. Covered electronic equipment is handled under a separate statewide disposal ban and may not be accepted for disposal at a solid waste facility.
This matters for any landfill-versus-waste-to-energy comparison. The fair comparison is not recyclable material in a landfill versus recyclable material in an incinerator. The fair comparison is what happens to the residual waste left after legally required recycling, reuse, and diversion have occurred.
Before asking whether landfilling or modern waste-to-energy has the lower long-term environmental burden, the first question is whether required recycling and source separation are actually being followed and enforced.
Recycling in Yates County
What New York law requires, what Yates County says must be recycled, and what records would show whether recycling rules are being enforced before waste is buried.
Read the recycling guideSources: New York General Municipal Law § 120-aa; New York Environmental Conservation Law § 27-2611; NYSDEC electronic-waste facility guidance; Yates County Recycling page.
Records we are still trying to verify
Several important questions about Yates County waste management are not yet answered in the public record. PennYanCitizens.com is pursuing the following records through Freedom of Information Law requests.
| Request | Agency | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Internal cost modeling for the post-2028 disposal transition | Yates County Planning Department | Drafted; not yet filed |
| Destination of Penn Yan Wastewater Treatment Plant biosolids (2020–2024) | Village of Penn Yan Public Works | Drafted; not yet filed |
| Communications regarding post-2028 hauling contracts | Yates County Planning Department | Drafted; not yet filed |
| Public comments submitted on the draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan | Yates County Planning Department | Drafted; not yet filed |
| Yates County Legislature roll-call votes on solid waste resolutions (2020–present) | Yates County Legislature | Drafted; not yet filed |
| Final Landfill Alternatives Analysis Report (MSW Consultants, 2024) | Ontario County Department of Sustainability and Solid Waste Management | Drafted; not yet filed |
When responses are received, we will publish the records and the questions they answer. To learn about the Freedom of Information Law process and how to file your own request, see our Transparency page.
Recent public actions and documents
A dated log of recent public actions and documents related to Yates County waste management.
Page review and data currency
Page reviewed: May 30, 2026
Factual data current as of: 2022 (per Yates County draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan, Table 3-2)
The factual data on this page is drawn primarily from the Yates County draft Local Solid Waste Management Plan, the most recent comprehensive snapshot of Yates County waste flows. Some figures (waste tonnages, facility destinations) reflect 2022 reporting and may have shifted; PennYanCitizens.com will update when new official data is published.