Yakima, WA Trash & Recycling: Illegal Dumping (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- YMC § 4.16.025
- Prohibited act
- Dumping refuse in another's city/licensed-collector cart
- Penalty
- Fine up to $250 or jail up to 90 days
- Penalty section
- YMC § 4.16.240
- Related ban
- YMC § 4.16.020 bars scattering refuse anywhere
- Refuse threshold
- Volume greater than one cubic foot (§4.16.010)
Summary
Yakima Municipal Code Section 4.16.025 makes it unlawful to throw, place or scatter refuse in or upon a refuse container, bin or cart that belongs to the city, a licensed collector, or is made available for another person's use. Violators face the Chapter 4.16 general penalty: a fine up to $250 or up to 90 days in the city jail.
It is unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to throw, place or scatter any refuse in or upon the refuse container, bin or cart belonging to or made available by the city or licensed collector for the use of another.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4980636; v1 updated 2026-08-03; through 08-03-2026).
Full Breakdown
16, Garbage Storage, Collection and Disposal. It targets a specific form of dumping: depositing refuse into a cart, bin or container that the city or a licensed hauler has set up for someone else's collection account, rather than your own. 020, which separately makes it unlawful to throw, place or scatter garbage, rubbish, ashes, trash or other refuse over or upon any premises, street or alley, public or private, or to let refuse accumulate until a property becomes offensive, unsanitary, unsightly or a fire hazard.
010, defines 'refuse' broadly to include sweepings, trash, rubbish, litter, garbage, industrial or domestic wastes, and animal excreta, provided the material occurs in a volume greater than one cubic foot, and defines 'cart,' 'container' or 'bin' as a receptacle the city provides for refuse or yard material designed for automated collection. 030, giving the owner a set time to remove it before the city removes it and bills the owner for the cost. Illegal dumping into someone else's city-owned or licensed-collector cart is enforced separately from that abatement track, since it is a discrete unlawful act rather than an accumulation nuisance.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 4.16 carries a single, chapter-wide penalty at Section 4.16.240: unless another section of Title 4 states otherwise, any violation of the chapter is punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not to exceed $250, imprisonment in the city jail for up to 90 days, or both. Section 4.16.160's own text confirms illegal-dumping-type offenses in this chapter draw that Section 4.16.240 penalty; code enforcement is handled through the City of Yakima's refuse and recycling division and prosecuted in Yakima Municipal Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to put my trash in a neighbor's or business's refuse cart in Yakima?
What penalty does Yakima's illegal dumping ordinance carry?
Does this cover dumping trash on a vacant lot or in an alley, not in someone's cart?
Who enforces Yakima's illegal dumping rules?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima
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