Green Bay, WI Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Dumping without authorization
- $500-$1,000 forfeiture (§ 32-9(b))
- Also banned
- Dumping on streets/alleys/vacant lots (§32-4(d))
- Also banned
- Taking waste from another's cart or bin
- General chapter penalty
- $10-$2,000, up to 60 days jail
- Enforcement
- Director of Public Works, Police Chief
- Each day
- Counted as a separate offense
Summary
Dumping solid waste on property you don't own, control, lease, or have the owner's permission to use is banned citywide under § 32-9, with a forfeiture of $500 to $1,000, five times the chapter's usual minimum. A separate rule, § 32-4(d), bars dumping on streets, alleys, vacant lots and other public places entirely.
(a)No person shall place or dump solid waste on any property, unless such person owns, controls, or leases such property, or is otherwise authorized by the property owner, and such person does so in a manner consistent with other provisions of this Code.(b)Penalty. The forfeiture for violating this section shall not be less than $500.00, nor more than $1,000.00. ... No person in the City shall deposit, throw, place, or leave any solid waste upon any street, court, lane, alley, business, square, public enclosure, vacant lot, house yard, body of water, or any public place except in a container herein required. No person shall upset or turn over the contents of any waste containers in any street, alley, and other public place. No person shall remove any waste from containers on private premises without the consent of occupant, owner, or lessee of the premises, and no person shall remove any waste from a container which has been set out on a public right-of-way for collection. No person shall remove any waste from public trash receptacles placed on public property.
Full Breakdown
00 under § 32-9(b), well above the chapter's ordinary $10 to $2,000 range set by § 32-7. A companion provision, § 32-4(d), separately bars depositing, throwing, placing, or leaving solid waste on any street, court, lane, alley, business, square, public enclosure, vacant lot, house yard, body of water, or public place unless it is in a required container, and bars turning over the contents of a waste container sitting in a street, alley, or public place. That same subsection makes it illegal to remove waste from a container on private property without the occupant's, owner's, or lessee's consent, from a cart already set out at the curb for City collection, or from a public trash receptacle.
Enforcement runs through the Director of Public Works, who is charged with abating violations and issuing citations, while the Chief of Police must report any dumping violation encountered anywhere in the City to the Director in writing under § 32-6(a).
Violations & Fines
Dumping on property without the owner's authorization draws a forfeiture of at least $500.00 and up to $1,000.00 under § 32-9(b), plus the costs of the action. Other Chapter 32 violations, including the § 32-4(d) bans on street, alley, and public-place dumping and on rifling through someone else's cart, carry the chapter's general forfeiture of $10.00 to $2,000.00 under § 32-7; default on payment can mean up to 60 days in jail, and each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the fine for illegal dumping in Green Bay?
Can I dump yard waste or debris on my own vacant lot?
Is it illegal to take items out of someone else's recycling or trash cart?
Who enforces Green Bay's dumping ban?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Green Bay
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Illegal Dumping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Brown County handle illegal dumping.