Peoria County, IL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 11-1 of Chapter 11, Garbage and Trash, makes it unlawful for anyone to dump or dispose of garbage, trash or refuse on a site that has not been approved either by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or by the county health department, unless some other state law specifically authorizes the disposal. The section reaches any unapproved site, so it covers dumping on vacant land, road ditches, farm fields or waterways just as much as an unlicensed private lot. Chapter 11's footnote cross-references two state statutes that back this local rule up: the refuse disposal provisions of the Environmental Protection Act, 415 ILCS 5/20 et seq., and the Litter Control Act, 415 ILCS 105/1 et seq.

Section 11-2 adds a companion rule for haulers: a vehicle used to carry garbage, trash or refuse must be built, loaded, covered and controlled so nothing falls, leaks or spills onto a public way, and dumping material from a moving vehicle is presumed, absent evidence otherwise, to have been done by the vehicle's driver and owner. An owner who was not driving at the time can shift responsibility only by giving the state's attorney's office a written statement naming the actual driver.

Section 11-1 does not set its own fine, so Section 1-10, the code's general penalty section, controls: a violation is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, and because the code treats each day a violation continues as a separate offense, dumped material left in place accrues a new $1,000 exposure daily until it is removed.