Is It Legal to Put Your Trash in Someone Else’s Dumpter in Arkansas?

Here's a question for you, have you ever had too much trash in your garbage can so you threw a few items of trash into your neighbor's trash can instead? Is that legal to do in Arkansas?

What about if you are walking your dog in your neighborhood and he's gotta go? Sure, you have those little trash bags to pick it up any mess but do you carry it back home and throw it away there or do you throw it in someone's trash can along your route?  Is that legal or are you breaking the law?

What about being at a business and realizing you have an old coffee cup or coke can in the car, can you toss it into a business's big dumpster?

Good News and Bad News

The good news is... if you do that then you don't like to litter but the bad news...it can actually be illegal to put your trash in someone else's dumpster. There is only one legal way to put your trash into someone else's trash can, you must get permission.

According to the Arkansas Code Title 8. Environmental Law § 8-6-205. Illegal actions:

(4) To dump, deposit, throw, or in any manner leave or abandon any solid wastes, including, but not limited to, garbage, tin cans, bottles, rubbish, refuse, or trash upon property owned by another person without the written permission of the owner or occupant of the property or upon any public highway, street, road, public park or recreation area, or any other public property except as designated for disposal of waste;

So be sure and ask first because more than likely they will say 'Sure, not a problem.' But if you are filling their garbage cans to the top then that's not very neighborly and even though you may not get a fine an angry neighbor could be worse.

But, remember throwing your trash into a business's dumpster you could get fined anywhere between $100 to $1,000 depending on the area in Arkansas you live in.

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