Gulfport, MS Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Section 4-168 makes it unlawful for any person, without authority or permission from the property owner, occupant or lessee with custody of the container, to move, remove, handle, rummage in, or disturb garbage or recyclable containers placed for collection under Section 4-167. The ordinance carves out city, county, state and federal employees performing their duties, but only up to a point: if those workers cause garbage to be strewn about during collection and fail to return it to the container, the exception does not shield them.

Section 4-169 adds a specific presentation rule for cardboard or wooden boxes: they must be flattened and tied into bundles not exceeding 40 pounds in weight, and each such bundle counts as a single container for collection purposes rather than as loose material. These pickup-handling rules sit within Article VI, Division 2 alongside the container specification and placement rules of Section 4-167, but address a distinct problem: unauthorized interference with materials once they are already set out for the city's contracted collector, as opposed to what container to use or where to put it.