Pendale Road runs through the Lower Valley on El Paso's south-east side, and the Mission Valley Citizen Collection Station sits along it serving Ysleta, Socorro Road and the surrounding neighbourhoods. It is one of five such yards operated by the city's Environmental Services Department for residents who need to shift more than the kerbside bin will hold.

There is no charge for anyone signed up to the city's residential collection programme, since the cost already appears on the monthly El Paso Water statement. What has changed is that entry now requires a pass obtained in advance from the department, on top of the documents you have always needed at the barrier — a recent water bill plus photo identification showing the same address.

The limits here are worth reading before you hitch up a trailer. Any trailer must be single-axle and must not exceed eight feet in length, which rules out most tandem-axle builders' trailers. Each household is allowed four visits in a calendar month. Paint is capped at five gallons a month and motor oil at the same. Most importantly, construction and demolition debris is refused outright — that covers material from your own home improvement work, not just contractor loads, and there is no version of that rule that bends at the gate.

What the yard does take is broad: general household rubbish, bulky furniture and white goods, household hazardous waste, kerbside-style recyclables, tyres and electronic waste such as computers, monitors, printers and scanners. Leaking containers and commercial electronics are excluded. Material dropped here is consolidated and hauled on to the Greater El Paso Landfill out at Clint. Gates are open from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon, Tuesday to Saturday, and the yard closes for five public holidays across the year. Weather events can shut it without notice — call 915-212-6000 to check before driving down.