Wausau, WI Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Public dumping ban
- Streets, parks, vacant lots, waterways
- Private property dumping
- Requires owner's express consent
- Public-land forfeiture
- $10.00-$1,000.00, § 6.44.140(c)(2)
- Private-property forfeiture
- $10-$200, general penalty § 1.01.110
- Enforcement
- City officers inspect sites, issue citations
Summary
Wausau bans dumping waste on public streets, parks and vacant lots, and separately bans dumping on someone else's private property without consent. Violations of the public-dumping rule can draw forfeitures up to $1,000.00 under Municipal Code § 6.44.080 and § 9.04.060.
(a)Dumping solid waste and yard waste. No person shall rake, deposit, throw, place or leave any residential solid waste, solid waste or yard waste upon any highway, street, court, lane, alley or other public way, park, vacant lot, yard, body of water or any other place except in an appropriate cart in the case of residential units or other appropriate solid waste or recyclables container in the case of nonresidential buildings or property, or at the City's designated yard waste site herein required for those purposes. ... No person shall ... place, dump or cast or cause to be placed, dumped or cast any rubbish, debris, garbage, ashes, boxes, offal, or any waste matter, or any cast-off material of any kind, upon the private property of another without express consent of the owner of said property, or use any private property for a dumping ground or for the disposal of waste, rubbish or other material or substance without consent of the owner of said property.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 12 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
080(a), in the Solid Waste and Recycling chapter, bars anyone from raking, depositing, throwing, placing or leaving residential solid waste, solid waste or yard waste on any highway, street, court, lane, alley or other public way, park, vacant lot, yard or body of water, except in an approved cart or container or at the City's designated yard waste site. Subsection (b) separately bars tipping over or removing materials from someone else's cart or waste container without consent, subsection (c) bars bringing outside waste into the city for disposal, and subsection (e) bars burning or disposing of items Wis.
07 requires to be recycled. 060, targets dumping specifically on private property: no person may place, dump or cast rubbish, debris, garbage, ashes, offal or any waste or cast-off material on another person's private property without that owner's express consent, and no one may use another's private property as a dumping ground without consent. 04 general-offense penalty.
Violations & Fines
Dumping violations under Wausau Municipal Code § 6.44.140(c)(2) carry a forfeiture of $10.00 to $1,000.00 per violation, since illegal dumping is not one of the chapter's higher-tier offenses. A private-property dumping citation under § 9.04.060 falls back to the general municipal forfeiture in § 1.01.110: $10.00 to $200.00 per offense, with each day of a continuing violation counted separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be cited for dumping trash in a Wausau park or vacant lot?
Is it illegal to dump on someone else's private land in Wausau?
Who investigates illegal dumping complaints in Wausau?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Wausau
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Illegal Dumping in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Marathon County handle illegal dumping.