Marathon County, WI Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)
Key Facts
- Citation
- Marathon County Code § 11.04
- Banned at landfill
- Newspaper, aluminum cans, glass
- Fine range
- $50–$200 per violation
- Oversight
- Solid Waste Management Board
Summary
Marathon County bars depositing newspaper, aluminum cans, or glass bottles at the county landfill, and requires each municipality using it to enforce its own ordinance separating those recyclables from other solid waste.
Each municipality which desires to afford its residents, businesses, commercial, retail and industrial enterprises the opportunity to deposit in the County landfill any solid waste ... shall first adopt and provide an effective program, including local ordinances, requiring landfill users located within the municipality to separate newsprint, aluminum cans and glass bottles from all other solid waste and provide for the recycling of newspaper, aluminum cans and glass bottles. ... No landfill user shall deposit or cause to be deposited in the County landfill any newspaper, aluminum cans or glass bottles.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 59).
Full Breakdown
County Code § 11.04 prohibits any landfill user from depositing newspaper, aluminum cans, or glass bottles at the County landfill, and it bars a municipality that doesn't both adopt and enforce a local ordinance requiring residents and businesses to separate those materials from other solid waste from sending any waste to the landfill at all. The Solid Waste Management Board reviews and approves each municipality's separation ordinance, and the Solid Waste Manager can refuse landfill entry to violators, subject to appeal to the County Administrator. Deposits are permitted again only during a County-declared economic suspension posted at the landfill entrance.
Violations & Fines
Forfeitures run $50–$200 per violation (rising to $100–$300 for a fifth violation within 12 months); each day is a separate violation, and the landfill may refuse entry to repeat violators.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take newspaper or glass bottles to the county landfill?
What must my municipality do to keep using the landfill?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Marathon County
Compare Marathon County to another location·View the Wisconsin trash & recycling overview
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