Dearborn Heights, MI Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 17-33 of the Dearborn Heights City Code, titled "Unlawful deposits," prohibits any person from placing or putting, or causing or permitting to be placed or put, any offal, garbage, refuse, animal or vegetable matter, waste or rubbish of any kind in or upon the streets, alleys or other public places of the city, or from permitting the deposit or accumulation of such material on any lot, yard or public place in a manner likely to be injurious to the health or welfare of the community.

The neighboring Section 17-34 separately declares undrained garbage of a liquid or semi-liquid nature a nuisance when placed on public property, whether or not it is in a container. Section 17-37 makes it unlawful to let construction waste, such as paper, cloth sacks, litter or other debris from building operations, scatter onto public or private property. Section 17-38 lets the public service administrator arrange paid special collection, or require the business itself to remove the material at its own expense, whenever a mercantile, manufacturing or trade establishment accumulates garbage or rubbish beyond what the city ordinarily removes.

Article III of Chapter 17 separately bars littering or depositing rubbish, soil, gravel or stones on public or private property without the city's written permission at Section 17-52, and bars a dumped deposit that interferes with the use of the property at Section 17-53.