New Britain, CT Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Sec. 11-78 of the Code of Ordinances, titled "Scavenging prohibited," names exactly three entities authorized to collect designated recyclables placed at the curb in New Britain: the department of public works, vendors under contract with the city, and private collectors licensed by the city. The ordinance goes further than simply naming who may collect: once a resident places recyclables at the curb or another collection point, the materials become the property of the city or the other authorized collector, so anyone else taking them, even a single container, is committing a distinct violation.

The ordinance is written to punish scavenging item by item rather than as one blanket offense: each container picked up in violation from each residence counts as a separate and distinct violation, which lets the city stack fines against a repeat offender working multiple stops on the same night. Sec. 11-78(b) sets the penalty at not more than two hundred fifty dollars for every violation, and specifically states that each collection or misuse of each container is its own violation, so a single truck working several stops can rack up multiple fines in one trip.

This sits alongside the separation duties in Sec. 11-79 and the disposal-location rules in Sec. 11-81, which route presegregated residential recyclables either directly to the city's recycling center or to other sites the department of public works designates, and which require every collector to keep records of what it delivers to each disposal site.