Waukesha, WI Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Municipal Code § 11.081 defines dumping as depositing by any means Refuse Material of a weight greater than five pounds or in a volume greater than one cubic foot on, in, or along any public or private property without the express consent of the owner of the property. Refuse Material is defined broadly to cover household garbage, yard waste such as clippings and tree limbs, dirt, stone, concrete, construction and demolition debris, metal, wood, glass, plastic, abandoned vehicles, lubricants and solvents, animal waste and carcasses, and discarded furniture, appliances, and electronics. Express consent must be an affirmative grant of permission, which the ordinance says can include the City's own designated waste collection sites and public receptacles, so using an unauthorized dumpster or lot without permission still counts as dumping even if the material later gets hauled away.

The ordinance builds in an evidentiary shortcut for enforcement: refuse left in place for 24 hours or more is conclusive evidence of intent not to reclaim or recover it, which removes any argument that dumped material was only temporarily set down. The prohibition in subsection (2) is a flat citywide ban with no permit or exception process, and subsection (3) sets the penalty at a forfeiture of not less than $500 nor more than $1,500 per violation, a range well above the code's general default penalty. Subsection (4) also lets a property owner harmed by illegal dumping seek restitution in court for the actual cost of removing the material and restoring the property, on top of whatever forfeiture the court imposes on the dumper.