Mesa County, CO Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 3.4 of Ordinance No. 15, "Disposal of rubbish," is Mesa County's illegal-dumping rule for the unincorporated county. It requires that "rubbish must be disposed of only by depositing the same in or at an approved disposal site," permits burning of paper and other combustibles only "in conformity with the regulations of the State Department of Health and Mesa County," and states flatly that "the use of county trash receptacles on streets, in parks and at public buildings for disposal of rubbish is also prohibited." That last clause targets a specific pattern the county deals with: residents or contractors filling public trash cans meant for park visitors or downtown foot traffic with household or construction waste instead of using a private hauler or the landfill.

To help identify violators, Section 3.4 gives law enforcement officials authority to "open and inspect any such rubbish, for the purpose of identifying the owner or originator thereof," meaning discarded mail, invoices or other identifying paperwork found in an illegally dumped load can be used to trace it back to a property owner. Section 3.5 adds a companion transport rule: rubbish moved on county streets must be in "an enclosed vehicle, or when properly covered and contained in a manner that will effectively prevent litter, dispersal, dissemination of odor," closing off open-bed dumping runs as another route around the disposal-site requirement.