If you're a Knoxville-area concrete contractor and you're still hauling demo material to the landfill, you're leaving real money on the table. Every. Single. Job.

Landfill tipping fees in this region are around $60 per ton for clean concrete. For a single 20-yard dumpster of demo, that's $1,200 just to bury good material in the ground. For an active contractor doing this weekly, the annual hit clears $40,000 fast. That's an employee's salary you're throwing away.

There's a better option, and it's a short drive from anywhere in Knoxville.

The Closest Concrete Recycler to Knoxville

Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel sits in Maryville at 245 Brookdale Rd, about a 25-minute drive from downtown Knoxville and 15-20 minutes from south Knoxville job sites. We're the only dedicated concrete recycling facility in East Tennessee, and our drop-off rates are a fraction of what the landfill charges.

For most Knoxville contractors, we're actually CLOSER than the landfill once you factor in queue time. Drop-off is fast - pull in, dump, pay, leave. Most loads are done in 15-20 minutes total.

Why "Closer + Cheaper" Adds Up

Do the math on a typical Knoxville-based concrete demo contractor:

3 demo jobs per week, average 15 tons of material per job
Annual tonnage: 2,340 tons
Annual landfill cost (at $60/ton): $140,400
Annual SMSG cost (at our recycling rate): A fraction of that - see our pricing page for current rates

Annual savings can easily land in the mid-to-high five figures. That's real money - money that funds equipment upgrades, crew bonuses, or just goes straight to your bottom line.

Run your specific volume through our savings calculator for an exact number.

How to Find Us from Knoxville

We're easy to reach from most of Knox County and surrounding areas:

From downtown Knoxville: ~25 minutes via Alcoa Highway
From West Knoxville (Cedar Bluff / Bearden): ~30 minutes
From South Knoxville: ~20 minutes
From McGhee Tyson area: ~10 minutes
From Farragut: ~30-35 minutes
From Oak Ridge / Solway: ~40 minutes

Compare that to a trip to a county landfill, where you might wait 30 minutes in line before even getting to dump. We get you in and out in less total time than the landfill takes you to unload.

Who's Bringing Us Stuff from Knoxville

We see a steady stream of contractors from the Knoxville area. Typical jobs that send work our way:

Slab demo and replacement in Bearden, West Knoxville, and Sequoyah Hills
Foundation removals for new construction across Knox County
Driveway tear-outs for residential clients in Fountain City and North Knoxville
Commercial parking lot demos along Kingston Pike and Alcoa Highway
Sidewalk and curb replacement for City of Knoxville and TDOT prime contractors
Bridge deck removal and rehab material from various infrastructure projects

If you're doing concrete work in Knoxville, you've got material that fits what we accept.

What You Can Drop Off

We take clean concrete in pretty much any form:

Broken slabs, sidewalks, and driveway panels
Foundation walls and footings
Curbing and gutter pan
Concrete block and CMU
Bridge deck and infrastructure concrete
Concrete with embedded rebar (we pull it during processing - no extra charge)
Concrete with surface mortar, paint over-spray, or light surface contamination

What we can't take: asphalt mixed with concrete, drywall, wood, dirt, trash, or anything chemically contaminated. For the full accepted-materials breakdown, see our drop-off guide.

If you've got a load you're not sure about, call (865) 999-0857 before you make the haul.

The Contractor Account Difference

For Knoxville contractors doing repeat business with us, our contractor account program is a no-brainer. It includes:

Volume pricing based on tonnage commitment
Net 30 payment terms so you're not paying cash on every load
Single monthly invoice instead of a pile of individual receipts
Faster yard access with account number on file
Multi-truck coordination for big demo jobs

Setup takes 10 minutes. We don't run a credit check. Most accounts are active within 24 hours of application.

Real-World Workflow

How Knoxville contractors typically work us into their job flow:

Job ends with concrete debris. Crew has it piled or loaded into a trailer / dumpster / direct-dump truck.
Driver heads to SMSG. GPS to 245 Brookdale Rd, Maryville.
Pull in, check in. Yard worker directs you to the concrete drop area.
Unload. Dump trailers back in and dump. Direct trucks back in and lift. Hand-unload is welcome too.
Settle up at the gate. Cash, card, or charged to your contractor account.
Back to the next job. Total time on site: usually 15-20 minutes.

Compare that to the landfill workflow: drive in, queue up, wait 30+ minutes, finally unload, drive to scale house, pay, leave. Total time: often 1-2 hours per load.

TDOT and Public Works Work in Knoxville

If you're a prime or sub on TDOT projects or City of Knoxville public works contracts, recycling concrete is often a requirement or a preferred practice in the bid documents. Bringing your demo material to SMSG checks that box and gives you a paper trail (we provide receipts on every load).

SMSG is currently in the process of getting on the TDOT approved aggregate source list - meaning the RCA we produce will eventually be specifiable for TDOT roadwork. For now, our material is widely used in private and county work throughout East Tennessee.

What Happens After You Drop Off

Your old Knoxville concrete doesn't just sit in a pile. We crush it into recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), screen it to spec, and sell it as base material, drainage stone, and driveway gravel. So that downtown sidewalk you tore out last week might end up as the base for a new building pad in Alcoa next month.

If you need RCA, crushed stone, or other aggregate for your active jobs, you can pick up while you drop off. Lots of our regular Knoxville contractors do drop-off and pickup in one trip - saving fuel, time, and a separate yard visit.

See what we stock on the materials page.

Comparison: SMSG vs. Knoxville-Area Landfills

| Factor | SMSG (Maryville) | Knox County Landfill | |---|---|---| | Per-ton cost (concrete) | A fraction of landfill | ~$60/ton | | Wait time | 15-20 min | 30-60+ min | | Distance from downtown Knoxville | ~25 min | Varies (closer for some) | | Material recycled | Yes - into RCA | No - buried | | Mixed loads accepted | Concrete only | Yes, but high cost | | Contractor accounts | Yes (net 30) | Limited |

For pure concrete loads, SMSG wins on cost every time. For mixed-debris loads, the math depends on your specific material mix. Sort if you can - bring the clean concrete to us at our low rate, take only the non-recyclable material to the landfill. We covered this strategy in detail in our landfill vs. recycling cost post.

Making the Switch

If you've never dropped off at our yard before:

First trip: Just show up during business hours (Mon-Fri 7am-5pm, Sat 7am-12pm). No appointment, no paperwork required for cash/card loads. See our first-timer's guide for the full walkthrough.
Set up a contractor account: Apply via the contact form or call (865) 999-0857. Takes 10 minutes, gives you volume pricing and net 30 terms.
Start saving immediately: Once you've done one load with us, the contrast with landfill pricing makes the decision permanent.

Most contractors who try us once become repeat customers. There's no contract, no minimum commitment - just better economics on every load.

Already Doing Recycling Elsewhere?

If you're hauling concrete out of Knoxville to recyclers further afield (Chattanooga, Asheville, etc.), we're worth a comparison. We're substantially closer to your job sites, our rates are competitive, and we're a dedicated concrete facility - meaning faster turnaround than mixed-material recyclers.

In Short

Knoxville concrete contractors paying landfill prices for demo disposal are spending tens of thousands of dollars more per year than they need to. SMSG is the closest dedicated concrete recycling facility, our rates are a fraction of landfill cost, and our turnaround is faster.

Bring your next demo load to 245 Brookdale Rd, Maryville. Call (865) 999-0857 with questions or use the contact form to set up a contractor account.

For more on the Knoxville-area construction landscape and where we fit, see our posts on construction waste in Knox County and the summer 2026 construction boom driving demand for recycled aggregate.

Stop overpaying. Start saving on every job.

Knoxville Concrete Contractors - Where to Send Your Demo This Week