Plumbing – Is a P-Trap needed for dishwasher return line

Any of those options will work, let me reorder them to:

1. Easy option: Cap off the sink hole & garbage disposal.
2. Leave the P-Trap and cap the pipe off after that.
3. Remove all the pipes under sink & garbage disposal and cap off main pipe at wall.

Now they're in order of ease and how temporary you want. If you want to simply stop the sewage fumes, the P-Trap (filled with water) will do just that so #1 & #2 will do that. #2 & #3 are good but might be a bit overkill especially if you leave the sink in place, even with the sink faucet off you'll have the occasional pot drained/strained in the sink and glass dumped in there. So if you have any drainage left, I'd just leave it and probably just turn off the faucets. If not, personally I'd removed the P-Trap back and cap it, then put a 5-gallon bucket under there.

I disagree with BMitch as far as if the P-trap will come apart. (Possibly the first time we've disagreed?) The metal nut could not be where it is if the joint did not separate. The rest of his answer I agree is the easiest fix. However, if possible, physically cleaning the trap is preferable to a chemical approach. I'm assuming there is a slip fitting just out of the picture, just as there is in non-disposal side. By detaching the metal ring in the first photo and the unseen slip joint, the trap should be able to be removed.

Even without a slip joint, the pipe could be detached right at the disposal itself. This could actually be preferable as it would allow the P-trap to swivel, which may help in loosening the nut. Are you sure you are trying to turn the nut the correct direction? I'm not saying you don't know how to loosen fasteners. The direction depends on which piece the nut is threaded onto, which is not always clear in plumbing.

The curved shoulder of the nut tells me it is threaded onto the U-bend, so the nut is turned anti-clockwise when looking down at it. It's hard to tell by photos, but you appear to have decent access to the nut from the left side as it is below the pipe coming in from the other side. Even though the opposite trap may be in the way for fully turning a wrench, you seem to have enough room to place the wrench handle near the trap and pull right.

As for counter force, if pulling on the pipe itself isn't working, try a large screwdriver wedged in the inside of the U-bend. If you have the right wrench, the ring nut shouldn't offer a lot of resistance.