Medford, MA Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Medford folded dumpster permitting into its rodent-control article, Chapter 6, Article IV, adopted by Ord. No. 858 in 2021. Sec. 6-113(a) requires a Health Department permit for any dumpster on residential or commercial property and attaches a dedicated rodent-control fee, set by the City Council and reviewed every three years; a dumpster tied to a building project that already paid the rodent-control fee for its building permit is exempt from this second fee. Sec. 6-113(b) conditions the permit on an integrated pest management (IPM) plan submitted to the health department, and that plan must be updated annually before the health department will issue the permit, not just at initial application.

Sec. 6-113(c) keeps responsibility for pest prevention with the permit holder even when a commercial pest-control service is doing the actual work under the IPM program. Enforcement runs through Sec. 6-120: failing to comply with the article can cost the permit outright through revocation and can also draw fines of up to $300.00 per day, handled as a noncriminal disposition under the city's Board of Health regulation on ordinance violations. Because the fee and IPM obligations sit inside the health department's rodent-control permitting rather than the solid-waste chapter, a business renting a roll-off or commercial dumpster should expect the health department, not public works, to be the permitting contact.