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Landfill ban (disposal ban)

A law or rule that forbids sending a named material to landfill.

Last reviewed October 27, 2026 by repallet.org editors.

A landfill or disposal ban prohibits disposing of a named material at landfills, and sometimes at combustion facilities or transfer stations too. States use bans to push materials into recycling markets and save landfill space.

Three states we've checked ban pallets or wood: North Carolina bans wooden pallets from landfills other than C&D-only landfills; Massachusetts bans wood at landfills, while letting it go to combustion; Vermont bans wood waste, defined to include untreated wood.

Bans usually bind facilities and haulers as well as the business generating the waste. Massachusetts' rule, for example, extends to contracting for disposal of a restricted material. See the comparison table.

A ban doesn't usually say what to do instead, so check what reuse and recycling capacity exists before relying on it.

Sources

  1. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 130A-309.10 (prohibited acts; disposal bans) North Carolina General Assembly. Accessed October 27, 2026.
  2. 310 CMR 19.017 Waste Bans Massachusetts DEP (text via Cornell LII). Accessed October 27, 2026.
  3. 10 V.S.A. § 6621a Landfill disposal requirements Vermont General Assembly. Accessed October 27, 2026.

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