[Adopted 6-22-1993 by Ord. No. 595 as Secs. 19-1 to 19-26 of the 1993 Code]
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
DIRECTOR
The Director of Public Works of the Town.
GARBAGE
Decomposable organic matter with a high water content that would act as a breeding place or provide sustenance for flies, mosquitoes, insects, rodents, rats, vermin or other vectors.
LARGE NONCOMBUSTIBLE WASTE
Includes such items as discarded automobiles, refrigerators, tanks, washing machines, dryers, large appliances, etc.
MUNICIPAL WASTE DISPOSAL AREA
Any parcel of land owned or leased and operated by the Town as a designated waste disposal site.
NONRESIDENT
Any person not a resident and shall include any person conducting business in the Town and not owning land or having a vehicle currently registered in the Town.
RESIDENT
Any person owning land in the Town or any person residing in the Town and having a vehicle currently registered at his same address within the Town.
SLUDGE
Any matter obtained from a cesspool, septic tank, seepage pit, or any other sewage disposal unit.
WASTE
Includes refuse, rubbish, trash, weeds, grass, leaves, noncombustible waste, combustible waste, demolition materials, forestry products, commercial refuse, industrial refuse, sludge and garbage.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or deposit, or to cause or permit to be thrown or deposited, any garbage, discarded receptacles capable of holding water, or any combustible material which might serve to increase the danger of fire upon any vacant land in the Town, unless such land shall have previously been designated by the Town Council as a proper and suitable place for such use.
It shall be unlawful for any person to throw or deposit in a municipal disposal area or in any other dump authorized by the Town Council any icebox, refrigerator unit or other cabinet without first removing the doors therefrom.
The owner or occupant of any premises where swill or garbage accumulates shall provide a covered metal watertight receptacle on such premises for such swill or garbage, and shall deposit, or cause to be deposited, all such swill or garbage in the receptacle. The owner or occupant shall not locate such receptacle in any place which is not satisfactory to the Health Officer or State Department of Health.
All refuse material must be contained in individual rigid containers with covers, each of a capacity not exceeding 30 gallons except as otherwise specifically allowed. Oil drums, paper bags, cardboard boxes, and baskets are not satisfactory containers.
Refuse consisting of toxic chemicals, dead animals, demolition debris, excrement, surgical medical wastes, furniture, large appliances, bulky mechanical equipment, explosives, building materials, and other similar special wastes are not acceptable for municipal collection. Such items shall be disposed of by separate arrangement and at the sole expense of the owner.
All garbage must be drained and wrapped securely in heavy newspaper or placed in a suitable bag for storage in the refuse container. Items of trash that are not readily contained in a refuse container, such as hedge clippings, tree limbs, and similar trash, shall be securely tied in bundles, but the length shall not exceed three feet, and the diameter of such bundles shall not exceed two feet, nor shall the weight of such bundles exceed 75 pounds. Old books, magazines and newspapers may be placed separately if securely tied in bundles not larger than 20 inches by 20 inches by 26 inches. Ashes, cinders and similar debris may be placed in open containers, provided that they can be adequately handled and do not weigh over 75 pounds.
No vehicles shall be used for the removal of swill or offal in or from the Town unless first examined and approved by the Health Officer or State Department of Health, and the vehicles shall have upon them such marks as required by the Health Officer or State Department of Health.
A. 
The Department of Public Works of the Town shall collect garbage, rubbish, tin cans and combustible materials once a week. The garbage, rubbish and tin cans shall be placed at the curbline or adjacent to the public highways in suitable containers.
B. 
The Department of Public Works shall collect garbage, rubbish, tin cans and combustible materials once a week when such material is placed at the curbline or adjacent to the roadway of a condominium development, if such condominium development was approved by the Town prior to the enactment of Article VIII, Planned Development and Mixed Use Planned Development Overlay, of Chapter 260, Zoning, of this Code.
Whenever land, other than a municipal disposal area, is used as a dumping ground by permission of the Town Council, the owner of such ground or the agent of such owner shall cause all offensive or decaying matter to be completely covered with earth or clean ashes immediately upon the deposit of such matter.
No person other than the owner thereof or a duly authorized agent of the Town shall examine, disturb, interfere with or remove any of the contents of any can, box or receptacle containing rubbish and placed by such owner upon the sidewalks or highways of this Town for collection and removal by the Department of Public Works of the Town.
No owner or occupant of any premises within or abutting the Town shall cause or permit the direct discharge of polluted water or wastewater from any sink, water closet, washing machine, shower, wash tub, cesspool, septic tank, stable, washbasin, floor drain, or other facility discharging polluted wastewater into any storm sewer, drainage ditch (natural or man-made), street gutter, surface drain, natural brook, catch basin, manhole or any other stormwater drainage facility.
No person shall carry or convey through or in any street wastepaper not so covered or protected to prevent the escape of such paper into any street, and no person while loading or unloading a vehicle shall scatter or permit any wastepaper to be scattered in any street or highway or where such wastepaper shall be blown into any street or highway.
Every person who shall put, or cause to be put, into any part of any street, road, alley, highway or way used by the public as a highway within the compact part of the Town, any oyster shells or other shells of shellfish, any broken glass, broken crockery, tin scraps or other broken metal, or other sharp substances shall be guilty of an offense.
Each person who shall put, or cause to be put, into any part of any street, road, highway, or way used by the public as a highway in this Town, any ashes, offal, or rubbish of any kind, except under the direction of the Director of Public Works, shall be guilty of an offense.
[Amended 3-14-2016 by Ord. No. 849]
Violations of the provisions of this article shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1, Article III, of the Code of the Town of East Greenwich.