Pottstown, PA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 214(1) makes it unlawful for any person to bury, burn, dump, collect, remove or otherwise dispose of municipal waste on any street, alley, public place or private property within the Borough other than as the solid waste ordinance provides. Section 214(2) separately bars dumping municipal waste, yard materials or leaf waste on any street, alley or public place, or collecting and removing it over a public right-of-way, unless the person doing so is a collector duly authorized and licensed by the Borough. A third clause in Section 214(3) closes an obvious workaround: no one may transfer municipal waste generated at a property that is exempt from municipal collection over to a property that is permitted to participate in the Borough's system, so a commercial generator cannot simply route its waste through a residential address.

When a property owner or occupant neglects or refuses to clean up a violation, Section 222 authorizes any Borough officer, employee or designated agent to correct it directly; the Borough then recovers the cost of that removal plus a 10% penalty through the same collection process used for municipal claims, including filing a lien or bringing a civil action. Before the Borough acts, Section 222 requires notice of the violation and the Borough's intent to cure to be posted on the offending property at least 24 hours in advance, except that no such notice is required where the property has already received two violation notices within the preceding twelve months.