Debris weights / Plywood and engineered wood
EPA conversion factor · read 2026-10-20
Plywood and engineered wood: weight per yard and dumpster size
EPA puts a loose cubic yard of plywood and engineered wood at 268 pounds (0.1 tons at the figure). A full 10-yard stays inside its published weight capacity, but the 15-yard size would pass its before it was full.
- 1One cubic yard 268 lb
- 2Per 32-gal bag about 45 lb
- 3Fills level 10-yard and some larger
- 410-yard limit 10 of 10 yd
How much plywood and engineered wood fits in each dumpster
| Size | Full box | Republic capacity | Yards before the low limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 yard | 1.3 t | 2–3 t | all 10 |
| 15 yard | 2 t | 2–3 t | 15 yd |
| 20 yard | 2.7 t | 4–5 t | all 20 |
| 30 yard | 4 t | 6–7 t | all 30 |
| 40 yard | 5.4 t | 8–9 t | all 40 |
Up to the 10-yard the box fills before the weight does; past that, weight takes over, so a larger box of plywood and engineered wood should be loaded only partway. It weighs 1.8 times less per yard than mixed construction debris.
Worked loads of plywood and engineered wood
| Loose yards | Weight | Smallest size that takes it | Fill |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 536 lb (0.3 t) | 10-yard, volume-limited | 20% |
| 5 | 1,340 lb (0.7 t) | 10-yard, volume-limited | 50% |
| 10 | 2,680 lb (1.3 t) | 10-yard, volume-limited | 100% |
| 20 | 5,360 lb (2.7 t) | 20-yard, volume-limited | 100% |
"Takes it" means the volume fits and the weight stays at or below the low end of Republic Services' published capacity for that size.
Taking plywood and engineered wood to a town transfer station instead
For a small amount, a pickup run to the transfer station can cost less than a rental. One 8-ft pickup bed holds about 2.5 cubic yards (the conversion Stratham, NH and Sudbury, MA publish), or 670 lb of plywood and engineered wood. At the 36 towns on this site that price construction debris, that load would cost from $0 in Merrimack, NH to $300 in Brookline, NH.
| Town | Published rate | One pickup bed |
|---|---|---|
| Merrimack, NH | $185 per ton (loads of 1,000 lb or less free) | free |
| Davis County, UT | $46 per ton (loads of 10,000 lb or less $10) | $10 |
| Lexington County, SC | $35 per ton | $12 |
| Greenville County, SC | $5 per cubic yard | $13 |
| Shelby County, AL | $14 per pickup load | $14 |
| Wilson County, NC | $43 per ton | $14 |
| Forsyth County, NC | $15 per pickup load | $15 |
| Polk County, FL | $46 per ton ($10 minimum) | $15 |
| Bismarck, ND | $50 per ton ($6 minimum) | $17 |
| Chautauqua County, NY | $65 per ton ($20 minimum) | $22 |
| Henderson County, NC | $70 per ton (loads of 320 lb or less $10) | $23 |
| Strafford, NH | $25–$40 per pickup load | $25–$40 |
| Delaware Solid Waste Authority, DE | $80 per ton ($7.50 minimum) | $27 |
| Danbury, NH | $30 per pickup load | $30 |
| Durham, NH | $30 per pickup load | $30 |
| Kern County, CA | $89.86 per ton | $30 |
| Dane County, WI | $63 per ton (in 500-lb steps up to a ton) | $32 |
| Larimer County, CO | $37 per pickup load | $37 |
| Thurston County, WA | $136 per ton | $46 |
| Fairfax County, VA | $109 per ton ($49–$109 minimum) | $49–$109 |
| Raymond, NH | $0.077 per pound | $52 |
| Laconia, NH | $170 per ton | $57 |
| Pierce County, WA | $195.32 per ton ($39.06 minimum) | $65 |
| Derry, NH | $0.11 per pound | $74 |
| Stratham, NH | $30 per cubic yard | $75 |
| Sudbury, MA | $32 per cubic yard ($16 minimum) | $80 |
| New Boston, NH | $0.14 per pound ($5 minimum) | $94 |
| Wellfleet, MA | $290 per ton | $97 |
| Milton, NH | $0.15 per pound | $101 |
| Marblehead, MA | $320 per ton | $107 |
| Sugar Hill, NH | $45 per cubic yard | $113 |
| Scituate, MA | $340 per ton | $114 |
| Newton, NH | $120 per pickup load | $120 |
| Canterbury, NH | $50 per cubic yard | $125 |
| Kitsap County, WA | $113 per cubic yard | $283 |
| Brookline, NH | $120 per cubic yard | $300 |
Most transfer stations take residents only and need a sticker; each town page lists the rules.
Materials of similar weight
Glass bottles (380 lb) · Household junk and trash (250–300 lb) · Mixed yard waste (250 lb) · Scrap metal (225 lb). Mixed loads take on the weight of their heaviest part, so a remodel load with shingles or tile in it should be sized as if it were mostly those. The guide to what you cannot put in a dumpster covers the items haulers refuse.
Source: U.S. EPA Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Volume-to-Weight Conversion Factors (April 2016), row "C&D · Wood · Clean engineered wood" (EPA source note 18), read 2026-10-20. Size capacities: Republic Services size pages. Methodology.