Pearland, TX Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Chapter 12, Article II of the Code of Ordinances draws a hard line between lawful disposal through the city's contracted collection system and everything else. Section 12-13 states that dumping of any garbage, solid waste, recyclable material, brush, and/or any other refuse in any place, public or privately owned, and in any manner other than that designated in this chapter is prohibited, and separately bars littering, throwing, dropping, casting, or depositing any waste material on a street, alley, sidewalk, yard, or premises, public or private, naming cigarette butts, cans, paper, bottles, and any other solid, hazardous, or special waste.

The prohibition connects to the city's broader waste system: § 12-18(a) already tells residents that refuse escaping a transport vehicle while they haul their own garbage or brush to the landfill counts as littering in violation of § 12-13. Special waste and household hazardous waste, defined broadly in § 12-14 to include everything from used oil and pesticide containers to dead animals over 10 pounds, may not be placed in a collection container or concealed for pickup at all; it has to be disposed of under state law through the city's household hazardous waste program at the recycling center.

Enforcement runs through the Pearland Police Department, code enforcement, and the Environmental Services Division of Engineering and Public Works, all of which the code authorizes to issue immediate citations under § 12-71. When a property owner refuses to clean up a violation, the city can perform the work itself and place a lien on the property for the cost plus a $30 administrative fee and ten percent annual interest on any unpaid balance, under § 12-73(c).