Columbia, SC Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 8-231(a) bars dumping, throwing, dropping, depositing or discarding "litter or other solid waste" anywhere in the city, on public property, private property, or in city waters, whether from a moving vehicle or dumped by hand, naming public highways, parks, beaches, campgrounds, forest land, recreational areas, trailer parks, roads, streets and alleys as covered locations. Only two exceptions apply: dumping at a site the city has designated for litter and solid-waste disposal by an authorized user, or depositing waste into a litter receptacle in a manner that keeps it from blowing or washing back out.

Subsection (b) puts the cleanup duty on the property owner, whether the litter accumulated on the land itself or in a receptacle located there. Related provisions in the same chapter back the core ban: Section 8-232 holds a vehicle's driver liable for litter thrown from it when the responsible occupant can't be identified; Section 8-233 requires loose material hauled by truck to be covered and secured, making inadequate tarping itself a violation; Section 8-236 separately bars business owners, employees, agents and contractors from dumping business waste into sidewalk receptacles or other unauthorized disposal sites, requiring proper collection arrangements or transport to a state-permitted landfill instead; and Section 8-237 makes owners, agents, occupants and lessees responsible for keeping abutting rights-of-way, up to the curb line, free of litter and unsightly growth. C. Code 1976 Section 44-67-10 et seq.