Woodbury, MN Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)

Sec. 19-4, titled 'Littering,' makes it unlawful for any person to discharge garbage, other refuse, recyclable materials, yard waste, household hazardous waste, or major appliances on any street, alley, drive, park, playground, or other public place, or on any privately owned lot in the city. The prohibition covers both public rights-of-way and private property that isn't the discharger's own, closing off the loophole of dumping on a vacant lot or a neighbor's yard. This sits alongside Sec. 19-3(k), which separately makes it unlawful to bury or burn solid waste, HHW, or recyclable materials anywhere within the city, and Sec.

19-5, which prohibits scavenging, meaning collecting garbage or recyclables set at the curb without a city license and an account relationship with the property owner. Together these three sections form Woodbury's core anti-dumping enforcement scheme: you cannot illegally deposit waste (Sec. 19-4), cannot dispose of it by burying or burning (Sec. 19-3(k)), and cannot take waste that isn't yours from someone else's curb (Sec. 19-5). The littering fine in Sec. 19-4 stacks with a separate cost-recovery remedy: the city can also recover its cost of removing and disposing of the dumped material from the responsible person, on top of the per-incident fine.

This is a strict, non-permit-based prohibition with no exceptions listed for volume or intent, distinguishing it from the licensed hauling and disposal framework that governs lawful waste handling elsewhere in Chapter 19.