Goodyear, AZ Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

City Code § 10-4-1, in Article 10-4 (Hauling, Prohibitions, Property Maintenance), makes it unlawful to knowingly throw, deposit or cause to be deposited any refuse, debris, litter, garbage, green waste, hazardous waste or recycling material, in any form, on private or public property in Goodyear under subsection (E). The only defense the section recognizes is that the responsible person holds a valid, current sanitation account and the action was specifically permitted elsewhere in the chapter, such as placing bagged household refuse in the assigned City container.

The same section separately bars knowingly hauling refuse along any City trafficway other than in an authorized bulk load when City sanitation service is available, and requires any vehicle transporting refuse, debris, litter, garbage, green waste, hazardous waste or recycling to use a watertight container or receptacle so nothing falls, leaks, spills or emits odor onto the road; a load that does spill is itself a separate violation. Subsection (F) sets the penalty: every violation of Article 10-4 is a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable under Article 1-8 and Chapter 18 of the Goodyear City Code, and the City can pursue a dumping case both civilly and criminally at the same time rather than choosing one track.

Because Article 10-4 and Chapter 10's enforcement provisions in § 10-6-1 work together, Code Enforcement, the Sanitation Inspector, the Sanitation Superintendent or a police officer can each initiate an illegal-dumping case, and the City may seek an administrative warrant to inspect a property when there is probable cause to believe illegal dumping occurred there.