In recent years, like other big cities, San José has experienced an increase in illegal dumping, which creates eyesores on our city streets and can cause harm to our local waterways and wildlife.
Since 2015, the City of San José has been working hard to address this complicated issue and ultimately, to reduce and prevent illegal dumping.
City of San José Environmental Services Department
A fine for illegal dumping was established in the municipal code- up to $10,000- and programs and services were ramped up to tackle the problem.
San José formed a rapid response team to respond to resident’s reports of illegal dumping and clean identified dump sites. The team is called RAPID, an acronym for Removing and Preventing Illegal Dumping, and is made up of eight full-time employees. RAPID has been very busy: In the last fiscal year, they responded to approximately 14,500 service requests and collected over 1,000 tons of materials, including 4,800 mattresses.
The City’s free Junk Pickup program (www.sanjoseca.gov/junkpickup) allows residents to schedule free junk pickups by calling their recycling collection company and making an appointment. In the past few years, the Junk Pickup program has expanded to boost resident participation. Program marketing increased to reach all San José residents, including multilingual outreach and focusing on “hotspots”- areas with a high occurrence of illegal dumping. The goal of this program is to have more residents use the junk pickup program for their unwanted items, instead of illegally dumping them.
The City also works with businesses and property managers to provide tips and resources on how to prevent and reduce illegal dumping on their private properties.
Here’s how you can help:
San José relies on residents to help address the problem of illegal dumping. Residents can help by reporting dump sites. In 2017, the City launched the My San Jose app (www.sanjoseca.gov/mysanjose), which enables residents to make service requests, including reports of illegal dumping, via their mobile phone or computer.
Residents are now able to call 408-535-3500 or use the app to report dumped materials. For more information, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/illegaldumping Residents can also send video or photo evidence of illegal dumpers in the act to reportdumpers@sanjoseca.gov. Our inspectors will investigate and potentially issue a citation.
Thank you to San José residents, and local business and property owners, for partnering with the City and helping to fix the illegal dumping problem in our city.
Kristen Van Kley
City of San José Environmental Services Department