Skokie, IL Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Section 86-10 of the Skokie Village Code, titled Unlawful deposit of waste, forbids depositing, throwing away, or permitting waste materials to accumulate or remain in any street, alley, or other public place, and it separately forbids letting waste sit in any place or condition where its presence would constitute a nuisance to others or a potential or actual hazard to health, sanitation or safety. The section carries a cross reference to the Village's public nuisance provisions at Section 42-31 and following, so illegal dumping can be pursued both as a Chapter 86 waste violation and as a nuisance under Chapter 42.

"Waste materials" is defined broadly in Section 86-2 to include litter, garbage and other household waste products, and Chapter 86's stated purpose in Section 86-1 covers garbage, refuse, rubbish, landscape wastes, building materials, debris and recyclables, so the dumping ban is not limited to household trash bags left on a parkway; it reaches construction debris, bulk items and litter left in alleys as well. The prohibition applies to any person or entity, which under Section 86-6 can include the individual who commits the act, whoever manages the premises where the dumping occurred, and the property owner if the owner had actual knowledge or was notified by the Department of Public Health.

Separately, Section 86-14 makes it unlawful for anyone other than the Village or its contractor to collect, procure or obtain waste materials from parkways or alleys, which addresses scavenging from set-out containers rather than the deposit of waste itself.