Current directory release
The live directory is built from a data release generated July 15, 2026. It retains 28,326 source records split into 55 state and U.S.-territory files. Of those, 27,854 have usable coordinates and can enter distance search. Location search contains 32,350 Census places and 11,899 ZIP-code entries. Those are exact release counts, not rounded marketing totals.
Source facility records
Mappable search records
State and territory data files
Coverage is uneven because the underlying public programs and datasets are uneven. California has 2,128 records in this release, while American Samoa has one. A larger state count does not automatically mean better public drop-off access, and a small count does not mean no local service exists.
What the September file audit checked
The audit read every state and territory file used by the browser search. It compared each file’s record count with the public manifest, added the files independently, and checked required names, numeric coordinate ranges, and placeholder coordinates.
| Check | Observed result | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| State-file total | 28,326 source records | Matches the manifest’s source-record total exactly |
| State and territory files | 55 present | Every state code listed in the manifest has a corresponding data file |
| Per-file counts | 55 of 55 matched | No difference between a file’s actual record count and its manifest count |
| Required facility names | 0 blank names found | Every source record has a display name |
| Coordinate range | 0 out-of-range pairs found | Every record has numeric latitude and longitude within world bounds |
| Mappable coordinates | 27,854 usable; 472 at 0,0 | The 472 placeholder-coordinate records are excluded from distance search |
| Display grouping | 26,256 groups from 27,854 mappable rows | The search can collapse repeated address-and-type records instead of showing duplicate cards |
| Place-search counts | 32,350 places; 11,899 ZIP entries | The search files match the counts published in the manifest |
These are integrity checks, not facility confirmations. A correctly formed record can still describe a closed site, a private operation, or a facility that does not accept a household’s material. The 0,0 values are valid numbers but not credible U.S. facility locations, so the search now removes them before calculating distance. The audit shows which part of the release is usable for search; it does not turn public data into a promise of service.
Where the nationwide records come from
The current nationwide layer uses public records assembled from sources that include the U.S. EPA Facility Registry Service, EPA program data used by the Recycling Information Management Online resource, EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program data, and U.S. Census Gazetteer Files for place centroids.
Some records include a facility website or phone number; others only retain a public source link. The source notes explicitly warn that underlying records vary and are not real time. WasteWayfinder therefore labels these results Research lead—verify, not “open now,” “accepts this item,” or “verified facility.”
How a search result is produced
The browser maps a phrase such as “mattress,” “paint,” or “concrete” to a broad material rule. It resolves the selected city or ZIP to an approximate point, loads records for that state and bordering states, removes records with a missing or 0,0 placeholder coordinate, and ranks the remaining potential matches using record classification, text relevance, and straight-line distance. When there are too few nearby matches, the radius can expand from roughly 100 to 250 miles.
A distance marked with a tilde is not a driving route. A category match is not an accepted-items list. The result is meant to shorten the research process by finding plausible official leads; the visitor still needs to verify public access, exact material and quantity, residency or business eligibility, hours, appointment rules, and the complete price.
Pricing records are deliberately narrow
Only four facility records in the current pricing file are connected to a specific official fee schedule. All four point to Riverside County’s published schedule for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 and retain the warning that cost varies by material, weight, and load type. Records without a tied schedule say that pricing was not published in the source and direct the visitor to call or check the official page.
WasteWayfinder does not apply one county’s price to unrelated records, convert an old search snippet into a current fee, or invent an average where the source has none. A visible blank is more useful than false precision when someone is budgeting a disposal trip.
Local source checks are a separate layer
The five Southern California guides cover Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties. They were reviewed against the linked government, agency, or official program pages on August 4, 2026. A “source checked” statement means the linked page supported that statement on the review date. It does not mean a WasteWayfinder representative visited or called every destination.
No page in this release is labeled as a firsthand facility inspection. If a future field or phone check is published, the page will identify what was checked, how it was checked, and the date. Until then, the site will not use first-person language to create experience it cannot document.
Release and policy changes
| Date | Change | Effect on readers |
|---|---|---|
| September 6, 2026 | Completed full file and coordinate audit; excluded 472 placeholder-coordinate records from distance search; published this log; removed advertising code from the directory search and collection hubs. | Readers can inspect the exact source and searchable counts, and the search task is separated from advertising. |
| August 4, 2026 | Reviewed five Southern California county guides and clarified “research lead,” “source checked,” and “firsthand” labels. | Local claims carry a visible review date and a direct source. |
| July 15, 2026 | Generated the current nationwide facility, place, ZIP, and pricing files. | Search results draw from this dated release rather than a real-time facility feed. |
How to report a correction
Use the correction form and include the facility name, the WasteWayfinder page or search location, the disputed detail, and the best primary source you have. Closure, safety, wrong-destination, and jurisdiction errors receive priority. A community message is treated as a research lead until it can be checked against an authoritative source.