Manchester, CT Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 273-3 of Chapter 273, Solid Waste, adopted by the Board of Directors on October 13, 2009, is a flat prohibition: "It is expressly prohibited for any person, except authorized Town employees or persons with a contractual agreement with the Town, to dump any solid waste on any public highways, rights-of-way or public lands within the Town, except in those areas specifically designated for refuse disposal, without the express written permission of the General Manager." Solid waste is defined broadly in § 273-2 to include garbage, rubbish, bulky waste, construction and demolition waste, household hazardous waste, recyclables and yard waste, so the ban reaches far beyond ordinary household trash bags.

The only people exempt from the rule are Town employees acting in that capacity and contractors under an actual agreement with the Town, such as the solid waste hauler running curbside collection. Everyone else needs the General Manager's written sign-off before depositing solid waste anywhere on Town highways, rights-of-way or public lands outside the areas the Town has specifically designated for refuse disposal, such as the Chapter 200 landfill. Section 273-4B separately makes it a violation of § 273-3 to place refuse or recyclables at the curbside outside a Town-issued container, or otherwise out of compliance with the Director of Public Works' rules under § 273-6, which folds curbside dumping violations into this same dumping prohibition rather than treating them as a distinct offense.