Cape Coral, FL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 9-70(a) prohibits depositing or burying refuse, decomposable construction refuse, garbage, trash, horticultural refuse, special pickup material, hazardous waste or industrial waste, or any toxic or biological waste identified as dangerous under state or federal law, on any land, public square, street, alley, sidewalk, bridge or other public passageway, storm sewer, vacant or unoccupied lot, or any lake, canal, creek or watercourse. Given Cape Coral's extensive residential canal network, the reference to lakes, canals, creeks and watercourses gives code enforcement and law enforcement direct authority over dumping into the waterways that run behind thousands of properties.

The section also bars keeping such materials anywhere in the city except in an approved refuse container that is collected regularly under the refuse article, meaning even legally-owned trash becomes a § 9-70 violation if it is stockpiled outside an approved cart or bin rather than set out for pickup. The ordinance carves out one specific exception: private, backyard, nuisance-free composting for home gardening purposes is not prohibited. Section 9-70 traces to Ord. No. 88-91, adopted September 23, 1991, and has not been substantively amended since.

Because the prohibition sits inside the broader refuse article, illegal dumping is separately reinforced by § 9-73(b), which bars anyone but the city's franchise hauler or a licensed construction clean-up contractor from collecting or disposing of refuse in the city, closing off unauthorized private haul-away as a workaround.