Raleigh, NC Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Raleigh City Code § 7-2005(c)(2)
- Covers
- refuse, ashes, rubbish, dead animals, injurious waste
- Applies to
- any land, vacant or occupied, citywide
- First offense
- warning only, § 7-2002.2(a)
- Repeat fee
- $250, then $500 per violation
- Landfill yard-trash penalty
- $100 initial plus $50/day, § 7-2007(m)
- Enforcing agencies
- Solid Waste Services and Inspections Directors
Summary
It's illegal in Raleigh to throw, drop, or deposit waste, refuse, garbage, ashes, rubbish, dead animals, or anything injurious to health, on any land in the city, occupied or vacant, without permission. City Code § 7-2005(c)(2) applies citywide and is enforced by Solid Waste Services and Inspections, backed by administrative fees that start with a warning and climb to $500 per violation.
(2)No person shall throw, drop or deposit, or cause to be thrown, dropped or deposited on any land in the City (vacant or occupied) any waste (including but not limited to refuse, garbage, ashes, rubbish, building rubbish, dead animals, putrescible matter, and anything injurious to health); provided, however, the prohibition contained in this subsection shall not apply to the deposit of waste not injurious to health on a public dump where permission to make such deposit is granted by the Solid Waste Services Director nor to the filling in or grading of property with earth, mud, ashes and similar materials.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 69).
Full Breakdown
Raleigh City Code § 7-2005(c)(2) makes it unlawful for 'any person' to 'throw, drop or deposit, or cause to be thrown, dropped or deposited on any land in the City (vacant or occupied) any waste,' and the section spells out what counts: refuse, garbage, ashes, rubbish, building rubbish, dead animals, putrescible matter, and anything else injurious to health. 3. Two narrow carve-outs exist: waste that isn't injurious to health may be deposited at a public dump if the Solid Waste Services Director grants permission, and depositing earth, mud, ashes, or similar fill material for grading is not covered by the ban.
2(e). A related but narrower rule covers yard trash dumped specifically inside a City-operated sanitary landfill without authorization: § 7-2007(m) requires the person who deposited it to remove it on request and imposes its own civil penalty, a $100 charge for the initial deposit plus $50 for every day the trash remains after removal is ordered. 3.
Violations & Fines
Dumping waste on any land, vacant or occupied, without permission is enforced under the Part 7 fee ladder: a warning for a first offense, a $250 administrative fee for a second under § 7-2002.2(b), and $500 for any further violation under § 7-2002.2(c). Illegally dumping yard trash specifically into a City landfill draws its own $100 initial civil penalty plus $50 per day it remains, under § 7-2007(m).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to dump trash on a vacant lot I don't own in Raleigh?
What's the fine for illegal dumping in Raleigh?
Does dropping off yard debris at the City landfill without paying count as illegal dumping?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Raleigh
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Illegal Dumping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Wake County handle illegal dumping.