Jersey City, NJ Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

§ 287-13 of the Jersey City Code bans dumping outright: "No person shall discard or dump any refuse, rubbish, household or commercial solid waste in any place or on any land in the city not specifically designated for the purpose of solid waste disposal." The Code doesn't stop at the initial ban, § 287-15 requires anyone who violates § 287-13 to remove everything they illegally dumped, and treats each day the material stays as a separate, additional violation. § 287-16 extends liability to property owners and anyone in possession or control of land who allows someone else to dump on it, and stacks up to three distinct offenses for a single dumping event on owned land: one for the dumping itself under § 287-13, a second for failing to remove the material under § 287-15, and a third for permitting the dumping in the first place. § 287-14 gives the city a financial incentive to catch violators, anyone who supplies evidence leading to a conviction and fine receives 25% of the fine collected, unless that person is themselves charged with enforcing the article.

Penalties run through Chapter 1's general-penalty section, § 1-25, which singles out solid-waste ordinance violations for harsher treatment than the citywide default: a minimum fine of $2,500 and a maximum of $10,000, versus the standard $2,000 cap, plus up to 90 days of imprisonment or community service. Multi-family property owners face separate minimum fines of $250 (one to four units) or $500 (five-plus units) for Chapter 287 violations. Enforcement runs through the Department of Public Safety and Department of Health and Human Services under § 287-31, with cases heard in Municipal Court.