Union County, NC Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 32-34 prohibits any person from leaving, throwing, scattering, spilling, or placing litter (or causing it to be left, thrown, scattered, spilled, or placed) upon public property, private property the person does not own or lease, or waters the person does not own or lease, unless the property is designated by the county or another governmental entity for litter disposal and the person is authorized to use it. Litter placed into a proper collection receptacle in a way that prevents it from being blown or washed away is exempt if the person is authorized to use that receptacle.

When litter is thrown, scattered, spilled, or placed from a vehicle or watercraft, Section 32-34 presumes the operator committed the offense, which removes the need to identify who inside the vehicle actually dumped the material. "Litter" is defined broadly in Section 32-33 to cover garbage, rubbish, trash, refuse, or other discarded material from domestic, industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, or governmental sources, though political pamphlets, handbills, religious tracts, and newspapers distributed under constitutional protection are excluded. Enforcement under Section 32-36 is carried out by personnel designated by the county manager, and Section 32-35(b) allows the article to be enforced through any appropriate equitable remedy from a court, on top of the civil penalty track.