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

Township of Lakewood Code § 32-4, adopted by Ordinance Nos. 2010-43 and 2010-59, regulates outdoor dumpsters and other refuse containers exposed to stormwater. 3 places two separate duties on anyone who owns, leases or operates a dumpster or refuse container: keep it covered at all times and stop refuse from spilling out or overflowing, and make sure it does not leak or otherwise discharge liquids, semi-liquids or solids into the municipal separate storm sewer system. 2 defines a covered 'refuse container' broadly to include dumpsters, trash cans, garbage pails and even plastic trash bags controlled by a person, whether owned, leased or operated.

4 lists what the covering rule does not reach: permitted temporary demolition containers, ordinary litter receptacles that are not dumpsters or bulk containers, individual homeowner trash and recycling bins, refuse containers at facilities already holding a valid NJPDES stormwater discharge permit, and large bulky items such as furniture, bound carpet and padding, or white goods set curbside for pickup. 5, and the rule sits inside the same Chapter 32 stormwater scheme as the improper-disposal ban in § 32-1 and the illicit-connection ban in § 32-2, all aimed at keeping pollutants out of the MS4.