Rumpke invites Estill County neighbors inside landfill after takeover

ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) — Rumpke Waste & Recycling opened its gates to the public, giving Estill County families a look inside the community’s landfill and the changes underway since the company took over earlier this year.

The landfill, off Winchester Road in Irvine, Kentucky, opened in 1984, and Rumpke acquired it in February 2026.

It will be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon on the third Saturday of the month.

The site features stormwater runoff ponds, underground monitoring wells and a landfill gas-to-energy plant.

According to Rumpke, the site remains open for regular public trash drop-off, providing safe, environmentally responsible disposal for everyday and large-scale waste.

Kevin Hall, Communications Coordinator for Rumpke Waste and Recycling, said Estill County Schools allowed Rumpke to use the high school campus, and the company has been working closely with local officials to coordinate improvements at the site.

Hall said Rumpke’s first priority was responding to neighborhood complaints.

“Odor issues, trash in the area — we immediately went into action,” Hall said, adding that from the high school “you can’t smell a thing in the air.”

He said the company is trying to remove the “mystery” around landfill operations by inviting residents in.

“We want to be invisible at the property line,” Hall said, “but we want people to come back there and look at it, because we are making investments, we’re making improvements.”