Elyria, OH Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Chapter 959 of the Elyria Codified Ordinances attacks dumping from several sides. Section 959.03(b) is the core rule: no person can throw or deposit garbage, rubbish or waste matter, or cause it to be thrown or deposited, "in any street, way, lane, river, stream, ditch or other public place, or upon any vacant lot, or where rats, mice, dogs, cats, birds, fowl or other living things can feed thereon." Causing someone else to dump is covered, and so is dumping on a vacant lot that belongs to a private owner. The same subsection says a separate offense can be committed each day the violation occurs or continues.

Section 959.03(a) adds that no person or account holder can keep, place or deposit garbage or rubbish on any grounds or premises except in the manner the chapter provides, so improper storage on your own lot is also a violation.

Section 959.08 goes further. No person can dispose of, bury, burn or dump, within City limits, any garbage or rubbish accumulated within or without the City, which stops people from bringing waste in from elsewhere. It also declares all other existing dumping places within the City a nuisance and orders them closed. Section 959.04 bars throwing or depositing cans, scrap iron, junk, fill or any material into a river, pond, stream or drainage ditch where it can obstruct or change the flow of water, and § 959.14 permanently closes the former landfill at the CMG Complex on Garden Street.

Appliances carry their own rule. Section 959.16 bars disposing of an appliance containing freon without first hiring a contractor licensed by the USEPA or OEPA to recapture it, and a violation is a minor misdemeanor with a fine of not more than $100. Burning waste is regulated under Part Fifteen, the Fire Prevention Code, per § 959.07.