You asked if unsolicited newspapers are considered litter at the time of delivery. The Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to issue legal opinions and this should not be considered one.

Newspapers delivered to residents who do not request them would not appear to fall under the statutory definition of litter. By law, litter is any discarded, used, or unconsumed substance or waste material made of aluminum, glass, plastic, rubber, paper, or other natural or synthetic material, including newspapers and magazines, which has not been put in a litter receptacle (CGS § 22a-248 (4)).

The law bars anyone from throwing, scattering, spilling, or placing litter on private property he or she does not own. Violators face a maximum fine of $199 (CGS § 22a-250).

Whether an unsolicited newspaper constitutes litter upon delivery depends on whether it is discarded, used, or unconsumed. Newspaper publishers do not intend to discard their publications when they distribute them unsolicited to residents' homes. They intend for residents to read them and perhaps support them by buying items or services from the papers' advertisers. It would therefore seem that these papers are not litter.

PF:ak