Is It Illegal In IL To Put Your Trash Into Someone Else's Bin?

I have a question about garbage laws in Illinois. Can you legally put your junk into other people's trash cans?

Throwing Your Garbage Into Someone Else's Trash Cans In Illinois

My mom lives in the Chicago suburbs. A few months ago, her town gave all the residents new garbage cans and recycle bins. They're made for a family so they're huge. Way too big for my 80-year-old mother to handle.

She was able to request a smaller and more reasonable-sized trash can, but there were no other sizes available for the recycle bin. My mom then decides to start throwing her recyclables into the dumpster of a local church. I give her credit for trying but I couldn't help to think, is that legal?

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Recently, my daughter's fiance purchased a new gaming chair. His old one had seen better days, so he put it on the curb for trash day. One of the pickers will pick it up or the garbage truck will haul it away.

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We live in one of those Rockford neighborhoods where the pickers come by all the time. If you leave something out, it will be gone in a matter of minutes. It's a fun little game we like to play, "how long will it sit on the curb?"

I went to take the garbage out for trash day and the chair was gone. I wasn't surprised about that. The funny thing is that whoever took it, left other stuff in its place. Maybe, they thought it was a trade situation. Sorry, I don't accept the "take one, leave one" situation. Maybe there wasn't enough room in their vehicle but still, that wasn't cool.

Illinois General Assembly

Now, just for fun, I'm back to the legality of the trash question. I found out that it is illegal to dump garbage onto someone else's property without permission. In this case and same with my mom, both situations broke the law. No one is going to jail but it's just an interesting fact about Illinois laws.