PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philly is spending millions of dollars every year to clean up illegal dumping across the city.
According to City Controller Christy Brady, cleanup crews cleared away more than 14,000 tons of illegally dumped material just in the 2025 fiscal year alone.
She estimates that effort costs at least $8 million annually.
To reduce that impact, the city is focusing on prevention.
“Philadelphia has expanded its efforts to combat illegal dumping,” Brady explained. “In November of 2025, the city launched an Illegal Dumping Task Force, coordinating multiple city agencies, and they’re using surveillance, enforcement and legal action.”
With the task force using more than 400 surveillance cameras and issuing fines up to $5,000 per dumping violation, Brady said they’re on the right track.
However, collecting those fines still presents an issue. The city sought some $4 million in fines between January 2025 and April 2026 but collected just $70,000.
The city controller says Philly is on the right track when it comes to enforcement, but has a long way to go
The city controller says Philly is on the right track when it comes to enforcement, but has a long way to go
