If you're in East Tennessee with a load of concrete or asphalt to get rid of, you have basically two direct drop-off options within a reasonable haul: Riverside C&D Landfill on Delrose Drive in Knoxville, or Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel in Maryville.

Both take the material. Both are legitimate operations. But they aren't the same kind of facility, and depending on where your job is, when you can haul, and how you want to price the load, one is usually the clear pick.

Here's a straight comparison.

Riverside C&D Landfill at a Glance

Riverside C&D is a construction and demolition landfill operated by Meridian Waste, one of the larger waste-services companies working in the Southeast.

The facts:

Address: 3330 Delrose Dr, Knoxville, TN 37914
Phone: 865-999-3343
Operator: Meridian Waste
Accepts: Concrete, asphalt, dirt, rock, and other C&D material (per Meridian's facility page)
Hours: Monday through Friday. No Saturday hours. Closes for hand-offs in the mid-afternoon on weekdays.
Pricing: Per-ton, weighed at the scale (the standard landfill model)
What happens to the material: Buried on site as landfill

It's a real, permitted C&D landfill and it does what it says on the tin. If you have a very large weighed load and you're already on the east side of Knoxville, it's a solid option.

SMSG at a Glance

Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel is a concrete and asphalt recycling yard — a different animal from a landfill. Material comes in, gets crushed, and gets sold back out as aggregate.

The facts:

Address: 245 Brookdale Rd, Maryville, TN 37804
Phone: (865) 999-0857
Accepts: Concrete, asphalt (chunk and RAP), brick, block, masonry, clean natural stone, clean fill dirt
Hours: Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–5 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m.–12 p.m.
Pricing: Flat per-vehicle (no scale, no weigh ticket), starting around $40 for a pickup load
What happens to the material: Crushed and recycled into aggregate

Head-to-Head Comparison

| | Riverside C&D Landfill | Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel | |---|---|---| | Address | 3330 Delrose Dr, Knoxville | 245 Brookdale Rd, Maryville | | Operator | Meridian Waste | Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel, LLC | | Concrete accepted | Yes | Yes | | Asphalt / RAP accepted | Yes | Yes | | Saturday hours | No — Monday–Friday only | Yes, 7 a.m.–12 p.m. | | Weekday closing | Mid-afternoon hand-off cutoff | 5:00 p.m. | | Pricing model | Per-ton (weighed at scale) | Flat per-vehicle | | What happens to material | Buried in landfill | Crushed + recycled into aggregate | | Best for | Very large single loads with weight documentation | Any load size, contractor or homeowner, flat-fee predictability |

When Riverside Is the Right Pick

There are real cases where Riverside is the smarter call:

You're closer to East Knoxville than to Maryville. If your job is in East Knox, Strawberry Plains, or up toward Jefferson County, Delrose Drive may cut a lot of drive time off your haul.
Your job requires per-ton documentation. Some prime contractors, government jobs, and disposal manifests specifically call for a scale ticket. A landfill scale ticket is the format they want.
You have a very heavy single load where per-ton math might beat a flat fee. Rare, but on a truly massive load it's worth pricing.

When SMSG Is the Right Pick

You're anywhere south or west of Knoxville — Blount County, Loudon County, Sevier County, or West Knox and Farragut. Maryville is a shorter haul than East Knoxville from most of that footprint.
You're doing a Saturday job. SMSG is the only Saturday direct-drop concrete/asphalt option in East Tennessee. Riverside is Monday–Friday.
You want a predictable flat fee. Per-ton pricing is a moving target — you don't know what a load costs until it's on the scale. A flat per-vehicle fee lets you bid the job with confidence.
You care about the sustainability angle. If your job is chasing LEED credits, or a client cares that the material gets recycled instead of landfilled, a recycling yard is the right paperwork.
You're a homeowner without a scale ticket. No trailer weight, no truck weight, no math — you pull in with a pickup, pay a flat fee, dump, leave.

Drive Time from East TN Population Centers

Rough rule of thumb, without traffic:

Blount County (Alcoa, Maryville, Louisville, Townsend): SMSG is significantly closer.
Sevier County (Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Seymour): SMSG via US-411 is the more direct run.
East Knox County / Strawberry Plains: Riverside is closer.
West Knox, Farragut, Hardin Valley: SMSG is closer or comparable — and often less traffic to reach.
Loudon County (Lenoir City, Loudon, Greenback): SMSG is closer.
Downtown Knoxville: roughly a wash on drive time; the deciding factor is usually hours and pricing model, not miles.

Q&A

Is Riverside cheaper than SMSG? It depends on the load. Per-ton pricing only beats a flat fee on very large, heavy loads. For a pickup, a dump trailer, or even a typical tri-axle, the flat per-vehicle model at SMSG is often the cheaper outcome once you factor in the scale ticket. Do the math on your specific load before assuming either way.

Can I dump on Saturday at Riverside? No. Riverside operates Monday through Friday. If you need a Saturday drop, SMSG is your only direct option in the region.

Do both places take asphalt? Yes. Both accept chunk asphalt and RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement). Confirm any unusual material with the yard first, but standard broken asphalt goes to either.

Is one better for the environment? SMSG is a recycler — the concrete and asphalt you drop off gets crushed and sold back as usable aggregate, keeping it out of the ground. Riverside is a landfill — the material is buried on site. Both are permitted and legal; they just have different end states. If sustainability documentation matters for your job or you're pursuing LEED credits, the recycling yard is the paperwork you want.

Do I need to bring anything special? At both places, be ready to show what's in the load — clean concrete and asphalt, no contaminated debris. Riverside weighs you and charges by the ton, so you'll go across a scale. SMSG charges by vehicle size, so there's no scale step.

Which One to Pick

Both places do the job. Which one saves you time and money depends on where your job is, when you're free to haul, and how you like your pricing.

Riverside makes sense if you're on the east side of Knoxville, hauling on a weekday, and your load is either large enough or documented enough that per-ton pricing works in your favor.

Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel makes sense if you're south or west of Knoxville, need Saturday hours, want a predictable flat fee, or care that the material gets recycled instead of landfilled.

If you want to try SMSG, we're at 245 Brookdale Rd, Maryville, and you can call (865) 999-0857.

Riverside C&D Landfill vs Smoky Mountain Sand & Gravel — East TN Concrete Disposal Compared