To Prevent Illegal Dumping, You Have to Know the Scale of the Problem

Illegal dumping is a chronic issue in communities with many vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties. When vacant lots become dumping grounds, this constant visual reminder of neglect also harms neighborhood morale and creates serious health and safety risks.

Dealing with illegal dumping is time-consuming, frustrating—and expensive. A city may remove 30 tires from a vacant lot only to find another pile dumped days later. With limited public resources, how can cities better prevent illegal dumping?

Flint, Michigan offers a powerful example of how residents can help tackle this challenge: by helping conduct an illegal dumping inventory.

Neighborhood-Led Vacant Lot Maintenance

Programs like the Genesee County Land Bank Authority’s (GCLBA) Clean & Green initiative show how resident engagement can combat illegal dumping. Clean & Green participants are Flint residents who help maintain vacant lots through mowing, cleanup, and beautification. Their contributions supplement local government capacity and fosters neighborhood pride.

Beyond aesthetics, these programs improve public health and safety. A 2018 study found that areas maintained by Clean & Green groups saw 30 percent fewer assaults, 40 percent fewer violent crimes, and lower rates of child abuse and youth gun violence.

However, illegal dumping remains a big challenge. Over 80 percent of participants report dealing with illegal dumping on a regular basis, leading to frustration and declining morale.

Working with the University of Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center (YVPC), the land bank enlisted the help of Clean & Green participants to pilot an illegal dumping inventory. An illegal dumping inventory is a point-in-time survey to document the location and severity of illegal dumping across Flint’s vacant lots. Surveyors collected key data on:

• Exact location of illegal dumping
• Amount of trash, using the Property Maintenance Observation Tool, which quantifies the amount of dumping in practical terms (e.g., it fits in a kitchen trash bag, it fills a pickup truck)
• Type of waste (e.g., mattresses, tires, appliances, vehicles)

Click here to see screenshots of the app and all questions surveyors answered when completing the illegal dumping inventory.

Surveyors input data into the Flint Property Portal, a public database that tracks vacant properties in Flint. The illegal dumping inventory helps Flint answer important questions such as:

• Where is illegal dumping the worst? Most cities rely on neighborhood complaints to address illegal dumping, but a complaint-based approach doesn’t always align with actual dumping hotspots. Many residents simply give up on calling the city if previous complaints went unaddressed or illegal dumping keeps happening.
• How much is being dumped? Knowing the volume of trash and debris to be removed helps cleanup teams send the right equipment and personnel to the site.
• How can outreach and education help? Identifying common types of dumped waste informs public outreach efforts, like flyers, dumpster roll-off days, or hazardous waste drop-off events. For example, Flint hosts an annual Love Your City month where each week features special waste collection days with unlimited pickup of hard-to-dispose-of items, like furniture.

How to Conduct an Illegal Dumping Inventory in Your Community

1. Find a survey partner. GCLBA conducted the inventory as part of their partnership with YVPC on a university research study. Survey partners can help increase the scope of the survey and conduct follow-up. In GCLBA’s case, YVPC will use survey data to select properties for interventions that could prevent illegal dumping and monitor them to see if interventions are successful over time.
2. Develop survey questions. Gather essential data without overburdening surveyors. At minimum, collect the dumping site’s specific location, quantity of trash (in everyday terms), and type of trash.
3. Leverage existing data. Don’t duplicate efforts, and don’t create a new database if you don’t have to. Integrate the illegal dumping inventory into existing property condition or code violation databases. Make sure data is spatially referenced with GPS coordinates.
4. Engage local groups to collect data. Involving residents and community groups already involved in vacant land stewardship helps lower costs and strengthens neighborhood engagement. Provide clear instructions—GCLBA standardized training through videos to ensure consistency.
5. Be transparent about the purpose of the inventory. Residents need to know why the survey is being conducted and what will be done with the data. If surveyors document dozens of illegal dumping sites and nothing happens, resident frustration can increase. Your city should communicate clear plans for how it will use the data to prioritize cleanup efforts during the survey period and after.

The Future of Illegal Dumping Prevention

Flint’s illegal dumping inventory is part of an ongoing project with YVPC and Community Progress. A 2021 pilot study focused on a handful of chronic dumping sites where researchers tested low-cost interventions like boulder barriers, artwork, seating, lighting, and trail cameras. Follow-up interviews found that these installations reduced dumping and improved residents’ perceptions of the spaces.

The 2023 and 2024 illegal dumping inventories helped YVPC prioritize sites for a more in-depth study on how interventions on vacant lots impact illegal dumping and community safety. Looking ahead, GCLBA aims to conduct regular illegal dumping inventories to track trends in illegal dumping over time and prioritize cleanup efforts.

Preventing illegal dumping starts with data, transparency, and active resident engagement. By taking the time to assess the scope of the problem—and actively engaging the residents who illegal dumping affects—communities can take a proactive approach to revitalization.