As a business owner or property manager, you work hard to keep your building clean and safe. One such method for maintaining a commercial property is securing a dumpster for daily trash. As helpful as this may be to your enterprise, it can quickly become a hassle if other people or businesses hijack your private receptacle. To learn more about illegal dumping and how you can prevent it, consider the following guide.

What Is Illegal Dumping?

While you might associate the term with hazardous substances such as asbestos, illegal dumping isn’t so extreme. In fact, no matter what they’re throwing in it, when strangers use your business’s dumpster, they’re doing so illegally.

Commercial properties pay for waste removal services, which means a company is in charge of emptying the dumpster on a regular basis. They then charge the company using the receptacle based on the weight of the trash that was inside it. Therefore, it can be frustrating if you have to pay for a neighbor or stranger’s garbage.

How Can I Prevent It From Happening to Me?

To keep other people from filling up your dumpster, the first step is to put up a sign. This firmly but respectfully states that using private property is illegal, and it may even point out that those who use it will be recorded on a security camera. If neighboring businesses or strangers don’t respect your sign, you can ask your service provider to install a lock bar and lock on the dumpster. That way, only employees of your company will be able to use the receptacle. If you do catch someone on camera using your dumpster illegally, remember that you’re entitled to take legal action. Using someone else’s dumpster is considered both trespassing and theft of services.

If you’re interested in obtaining a secure dumpster for your business, turn to Southeast Waste Disposal of Ozark, AL. They are proud to keep properties clean with their trash collection. To learn more about how scheduled trash pickup could benefit your commercial property, get in touch with a representative by calling (334) 774-4158 today. Visit the website to browse their waste management services across Dale, Coffee, Henry, Pike, Covington, Houston, and Geneva counties.