Jackson, NJ Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Chapter 216, Article VIII of the Code of the Township of Jackson, adopted in 2010, regulates every refuse container, a term the ordinance defines broadly to include dumpsters, trash cans, garbage pails and plastic trash bags. Section 216-64 requires anyone who controls a refuse container or dumpster, whether owned, leased or operated, to keep it covered at all times and to prevent refuse from spilling out or overflowing, and separately bars any leak or discharge of liquids, semiliquids or solids into the municipal separate storm sewer system operated by the Township of Jackson.

Section 216-65 exempts permitted temporary demolition containers, ordinary litter receptacles, individual homeowner trash and recycling containers, facilities already covered by a state NJPDES stormwater discharge permit, and bulky items such as furniture or white goods set at the curb for pickup. The Jackson Township Police Department and the Code Enforcement Officer enforce the article under § 216-66, and § 216-67 sets the penalty at a minimum $100 fine, with imprisonment in the county jail for up to 90 days as an alternative, treating each day of a violation as a separate offense.

Separately, the Township's zoning code addresses where commercial-scale dumpsters may sit: § 244-208, governing outdoor solid waste storage for uses other than single- or two-family homes, requires a screened refuse area with a five- to eight-foot fence and a landscaping buffer, and its subsection M flatly states that using commercial dumpsters or similar large receptacles to store solid waste for single-family or two-family dwellings is prohibited, pushing roll-off and dumpster placement toward multifamily, commercial and industrial sites governed by the site-plan standards in the same section.