Dumpster Diving Security: Protecting Your Property from Illegal Activity and Unauthorized Access

Dumpsters are a common target for illegal activities such as dumpster diving, unauthorized dumping, fires, and even criminal transactions. To protect your property, implementing proactive dumpster security measures is essential. With the right strategies, you can safeguard your dumpsters and surrounding areas from illegal actions, including identity theft, data breaches, and vandalism.

What illegal activities do dumpsters attract?

Protecting dumpsters and what they contain is a must regardless of your business’s industry, size, and location. Here are some of the main risks associated with weak dumpster security and unauthorized access.

Dumping

Illegal dumping, often referred to as midnight dumping or fly-tipping, is a common problem for dumpsters on commercial properties. When you have a dumpster, you risk attracting individuals looking to dispose of old electronics, sensitive documents, or general waste without following proper disposal policies. This can expose your property to unwanted activity, such as identity theft and unauthorized access to valuable data. Proper dumpster security measures can help mitigate these risks.

Dumpster Diving

Dumpster diving isn’t just a search for treasures to reuse or resell. In many cases, the intent is far more malicious. Dumpster divers may be looking for sensitive information, such as customer data, personal identifiers, credit card details, or other private documents, which can be used for identity theft, phishing attacks, or other forms of cybercrime. Effective dumpster security can help protect against these risks and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Fires

Dumpster fires (the literal kind) can result from employees not following best practices for waste disposal. But they also can occur when outside parties dump or toss certain items as well. Whether accidental or intentional, fires pose an obvious safety hazard.

Illegal Activities

Dumpsters, especially in secluded areas, attract illegal activities like dumpster diving, drug deals, and prostitution. To minimize these risks, securing your dumpster and improving visibility are key. This not only helps prevent unauthorized access but also protects against identity theft, phishing attacks, and other cybersecurity threats that may arise from improperly discarded sensitive information.

Essential dumpster security measures to protect your property

Tips for securing dumpsters and the areas surrounding them are similar to security efforts you’d make for any business or home. Try some of these top recommendations for dumpster security.

Access Control

Invest in solid locks or gravity bars for your dumpsters to prevent unauthorized access. Ensure your employees lock the dumpster containers every night, making this part of your checklist for closing shift procedures.

Create a gated, locked area around your dumpster for an added layer of defense. Avoid cluttering the area with foliage, as it can provide cover for dumpster divers or cybercriminals looking to access sensitive data. Don’t become lax—ensure the area remains locked, even during business hours, to prevent illegal activity and unauthorized access.

If possible, coordinate pickups with your vendor regularly to minimize the time the area is unlocked, further deterring dumpster diving or any illicit behavior.

Enhance Lighting

Install sufficient lighting to deter suspicious activity around the dumpster. Place outdoor lighting above and around the dumpster at heights that are difficult to block. Motion-detection lights are ideal for spotting unauthorized access, preventing dumpster diving and protecting sensitive information. Proper lighting helps deter illegal activities like vandalism and theft, ensuring better security for your property.

Post Signs

Clear, visible signage may seem like a small deterrent, but it plays a crucial role in enhancing dumpster security and protecting confidential information. It also helps build a strong case for your business in the event of legal issues.

Post signs indicating that the dumpster is for private use only, the area is under surveillance, and violators will face prosecution. Some businesses even outline penalties to discourage dumpster diving and unauthorized access, helping to prevent the exposure of sensitive data like personally identifiable information (PII) and financial records.

Having posted warning signs is of particular importance when it comes to dumpster divers. While dumpster diving on public property is legal in all 50 U.S. states, it is illegal in certain scenarios. For example, say someone ignores warning signs, trespasses on private property, and proceeds to pick a gate lock or dumpster lock. That would be illegal.

Posting signage is important if issues of liability were to come into play, too. Believe it or not, if a dumpster diver were injured on something sharp or exposed to chemicals, you could find yourself in legal hot water. But posting a sign provides you with some protection.

Minimize What You Dump

Don’t place documents containing sensitive information in your bin whole. Instead, use a NAID AAA-certified facility or service to destroy documents containing identifying information. This is a case of “better safe than sorry” in a world of identity theft.

And if you’re discarding electronic storage or computers, be sure to destroy the data these things contain on them. Even better, don’t even place them in a dumpster. Instead, reach out to a nonprofit organization or another party who might appreciate giving an electronic item a second life even though you’re done with it. And if it’s too far gone? There are many recycling facilities and outlets that will recover as much as possible out of an existing electronic device before discarding what can’t be recycled.

Understand Your Dumpster Divers

Understand why people might be drawn to dumpster diving and take proactive measures to reduce these temptations. For example, if you run a food business, you may attract individuals looking for discarded meals. Instead of tossing leftover food, consider donating it to a local food bank or homeless shelter. By doing so, you not only help those in need but also eliminate waste and reduce unnecessary temptations for individuals.

Fire Safety

Fire safety starts with fire prevention. Educate employees and tenants (if applicable) on proper waste disposal practices. Dumpsters should not be a dumping ground for particularly flammable items such as oily rags or chemicals, which require specific protocols. Keep the dumpster area free of wind-swept leaves and litter. Left unchecked, these items can easily become fuel. Enforce a strict no-smoking policy near the dumpster. Designate an outdoor area for employee smoke breaks far from the dumpster. Check and maintain any electrical outlets near the dumpster to prevent sparks.

Next, ensure that you can quickly put out any fires that start. Install fire extinguishers near the dumpster area in easily accessible areas. Provide employees with sufficient training on their use. And inspect the equipment regularly, replacing expired units. If your setup allows for it, arrange for automatic sprinklers near the dumpsters in the event of a fire.

Increase Visibility

Security can expand to the community level. Create an unofficial “neighborhood watch” of your dumpster by asking nearby business owners to keep an eye out for anything unsavory. Offer to do the same for them. Build a relationship with local law enforcement and report any suspicious activities to them.

Have staff regularly inspect the dumpster and report issues. Make this an element of your formal training with employees. Regular inspections of the dumpster area ensure that any damage to fences, locks, or lighting is promptly addressed.

Business security camera systems optimize security and visibility like nothing else can. Invest in a Deep Sentinel system to canvass the area and respond to any “bad actors” lurking around the bin or actually diving in. The surveillance camera provides the wide view and high resolution necessary to identify anyone attempting to access your dumpster. Deep Sentinel’s live guards stand ready to respond to situations as they unfold to deter dumping, theft, and other activities you would like to avoid. You can install these cameras also at heights that deter tampering.

Enhance dumpster security & strengthen your business protection with Deep Sentinel

With a multipronged effort like this, you can reduce the appeal of dumpsters—and their surrounding areas—as a destination for illegal and undesirable activities.

Dumpsters are one weak point in the physical security of any business. By shoring up this vulnerable spot, your entire business is safer. Deep Sentinel leverages security guard surveillance at strategic locations inside and outside your premises to provide comprehensive after-hours security. Entrust your business to Deep Sentinel, and you’ll never need to worry about dumpster divers or other intruders again.