Melbourne, FL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 40-3 of the Melbourne city code, titled 'Protection of water resources from wrongful disposal of materials on property, into storm sewers, or into natural outlets,' bars any person from placing, depositing, spilling or dumping human or animal excrement, garbage, motor oil or other objectionable waste on public or private property, and separately bars discharging sewage, industrial waste, household hazardous waste or other pollutants or polluted water into a storm sewer or natural outlet except through the city sewer system or a system the state has approved. The prohibition reaches both a resident dumping waste on someone else's lot and a business or contractor pouring pollutants into a drainage ditch or outfall that was never built to carry them.

The dumping ban overlaps with Melbourne's public littering ordinance at Sec. 48-83, which separately makes it unlawful to throw, discard or deposit litter, garbage, trash or other solid waste on any public highway, street, right-of-way or other public land, or into any lake, river, stream or other body of water; if litter is thrown from a moving vehicle or boat, the operator or owner is deemed responsible under that section. Sec. 48-84 adds a related duty on anyone hauling loose material: loads of dirt, sand, gravel, trash, garbage or yard debris must be covered and secured so nothing falls, blows or leaks out onto the roadway, and the hauler must clean up any spill or pay the city's cleanup cost.