Solid Waste & Recycling Division

Overview

The Sanitation Division of the Department of Public Works operates and manages a transfer station and recycling center. This site is capable of handling municipal waste, leaf litter, brush, and recycling of plastics, cardboard, and glass. 

The Sanitation Division of the Department of Public Works operates and manages a transfer station and recycling center located at the end of Theophilus Smith Road in South Dennis. This site is capable of handling municipal waste (household trash), leaf litter, brush, and recycling of plastics, cardboard, glass and more.   

The town of Dennis currently has a single option for disposing of our household trash.  Each year, we send over 7 million pounds of household trash by rail to West Wareham, MA. There it is burned in an incinerator.  Relying so heavily on a single means of disposal poses risks. These can be mitigated by reducing the overall amount of our trash.  

Finding more efficient and less costly strategies for disposing of our trash, is also key.  That’s why in addition to our long-time recycling programs, we are providing new ways to make progress such as food scrap composting and recycling for unusable cloth items.  We’ve also provided eight new donation bins that provide revenue to the town rather than paying to send them to be incinerated off-cape. 

Currently, Massachusetts is running out of disposal options.  There is a moratorium preventing new incinerators. Our State has mandated that we keep 90% of our household waste out of incineration by 2050. This strategy is referred to as “ZeroWaste”, and is one being pursued by towns across Cape Cod, that aspire to become more sustainable. 

Join your fellow citizens in taking the “challenge” and help to create less household trash, compost food scraps, donate and re-use, and to increase recycling!

Please call 508-760-6230 with any questions you might have in regards to our facility.

Transfer Station Passes

Transfer Station passes are effective from May 1st to April 30th every year.  Transfer station passes for the 2026/2027 season are available for online purchase beginning 2/17/2026.  In-person sales will be added beginning on 3/30/26, Monday through Thursday between the hours of 10am-2pm. Beginning on 4/27/26, in-person sales hours will be expanded to Monday through Friday between the hours of 10am-4pm.  

Primary passes for the 2026/2027 season are $210.  You can purchase a secondary pass for your second vehicle for $22.  If you are not familiar with the Transfer Station, stop at the gatehouse for assistance or click here for a map of the facility:  map of transfer station. If you are visiting Dennis, you are welcome to use the Dennis Transfer Station to dispose of your household waste and recyclables as follows:

Bags/Barrels of household waste are currently $15 for the first 33 gallon bag/barrel and $6 for each additional 33 gallon bag/barrel.