Brockton, MA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

City Code § 8-8 flatly prohibits dumping, depositing or abandoning garbage, refuse and trash on public or private property citywide, unless the council has specifically designated that location a garbage dump or sanitary landfill. A companion section, § 8-1, separately bars casting, throwing, sweeping, sifting or depositing dirt, rubbish, waste or any liquid or solid substance onto a public way, river, canal, public water, drain, sewer or receiving basin, and also bars leaving material positioned so wind, rain or snow can carry it into those places.

Section 8-1 carves out narrow exceptions for permitted deposits, goods temporarily staged for trade and removed within two hours, and material entering the sewer system through lawful drains. Because Chapter 8 sets no dedicated fine for either section, enforcement falls to the city's general penalty provision, § 1-9, which caps the penalty at $300 for each offense unless another ordinance or state law sets a different amount. c. 270, § 16, covering trash thrown from vehicles onto highways, and § 12-169 governs vehicles that spill or drop loads.

Because storing garbage on one's own premises is separately restricted under § 8-7 (garbage may only be kept in an authorized landfill or held until the next scheduled collection), a property owner who lets waste accumulate outside those bounds can be cited under both provisions.