New Bedford, MA Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Section 16-80(d) governs properties that don't receive city solid waste or recycling collection and instead rely on a private or commercial hauler. It requires that all waste materials awaiting pickup be placed in receptacles containing only material generated by the owners and occupants of that specific property, and those receptacles must be flytight, rodent resistant, nonflammable and waterproof and built to prevent litter from escaping onto public or private property. The receptacles must be kept on the property at all times, never on public streets or sidewalks, and any receptacle located in a residentially zoned area, or within thirty feet of one, must be screened from view.

c. 111, so the board of health can act on rodent or vector complaints even where the solid waste ordinance itself doesn't reach. Owners on private collection must also submit a recycling plan to the director on request under § 16-80(e), detailing collection methods and container types, reinforcing that private-hauler properties remain fully subject to the city's sanitation standards even without curbside service.