Sheboygan, WI Trash & Recycling: Dumpster Rules (2026)

Section 110-102(b) of the Sheboygan Municipal Code addresses dumpsters directly. A dumpster set in or upon any street, alley or public ground needs a written permit from the department of engineering and public works before it goes down. Subsection (a) of the same section separately requires that permit for building materials, construction equipment, demolition or tree-removal debris and excavation in the street, so a roll-off for a demolition job falls under the dumpster language of subsection (b).

Fees and duration are set by section 110-103. The applicant pays $25.00 before the permit issues, every permit is effective a maximum of 15 days, and a new permit and a new $25.00 fee are required after that. Section 110-105 adds that the department can grant a permit under 110-102 for a period not to exceed three months, that the permit cannot authorize obstructing more than one-third of the traveled portion of the street opposite the lot, and that the common council or the department can revoke it at any time. Section 110-104 requires a permittee who uses the permit to barricade a street to notify the police and fire departments, bus companies and private ambulance services 24 hours beforehand.

Night marking is its own rule in section 110-110. A dumpster left standing in a street or alley during the night must have red reflectors not less than three inches in diameter on the left and right rear sides and the left and right front sides facing traffic, plus a band of black and white reflectorized tape not less than three inches wide, affixed three to four feet from ground level on the three sides facing traffic. The reflectors and tape must stay visible at all times while the dumpster is in the street or alley. Section 110-106 requires the materials to be removed when the permit period ends, and within 24 hours if the street no longer needs to stay obstructed.

Dumpsters on private commercial property are covered elsewhere. Section 102-50 requires commercial refuse and recyclables to be stored in approved storage containers or facilities built so they do not cause an odor nuisance, a rat harborage nuisance or wind-scattered materials, and failure to provide such facilities is a public nuisance.