Trash & Recycling in Elkhart County, IN (2026)
5 rules for unincorporated Elkhart County, Indiana.
Verified from official government sources
Pickup Rules & Schedules
Elkhart County does not run curbside trash pickup in the unincorporated area. The Board of Commissioners dissolved the county's Solid Waste Management District effective December 31, 2020, so pickup is arranged directly between residents and a private hauler, or residents can self-haul to the county landfill on County Road 7 in Elkhart.
Elkhart County Trash Pickup Rules
Few RestrictionsElkhart County Code of Ordinances § 50.01
The Board of Commissioners dissolved the Elkhart County Solid Waste Management District effective December 31, 2020.
Bin Placement Rules
Placement rules depend on your provider. In unincorporated areas your private hauler sets set-out times. Elkhart city requires carts within three feet of the curb with two feet of clearance and lids closed, and city code caps a container at 99 gallons.
Elkhart County Trash Bin Placement Rules
Some RestrictionsElkhart, IN City Code § 99.01 (Container)
A receptacle with a capacity no larger than 99 gallons, which: is designed and intended for storage and collection of garbage and refuse, has an attached and hinged lid, as approved by the city
Recycling Requirements
Indiana has no residential recycling mandate, and unincorporated Elkhart County requires nothing separated. The county's staffed drop-off sites were consolidated and closed, though it keeps a recycling incentive program. Elkhart city provides curbside recycling every other week.
Elkhart County Recycling Requirements
Some RestrictionsElkhart County, IN Code § 50.02
Pursuant to I.C. 13-21-15-4, the county will continue collecting all fees previously collected by the Solid Waste Management District and use said fees exclusively for services previously provided by the Solid Waste Management District.
Illegal Dumping
Dumping trash, garbage or waste on public property, streets, waterways or parks in unincorporated Elkhart County is banned under § 97.01, with a separate rule requiring loads that could spill be covered and secured. Fines run $250 to $500.
Elkhart County Illegal Dumping & Litter Law
Some RestrictionsElkhart County Code of Ordinances § 97.01
§ 97.01 ANTI-LITTERING. No person shall dispose, release or permit the escape of trash, rubbish, garbage or waste materials from his or her person or property to or upon any public property, highway, street, right-of-way, body of water or park in the county except to authorized public or private receptacles, or in accordance with regulations and requirements set forth by the county.
Recycling Rules
Elkhart County ran a curbside recycling incentive program that paid a $25 subscription award to Qualified Recycling Haulers (QRHs) for each new subscriber, capped at $150,000 per hauler per year. Under §§ 50.40-50.41, that program and its definitions expired December 31, 2025, except for obligations that arose before that date, so no mandatory recycling program currently runs in the unincorporated county.
Elkhart County Recycling Program Rules
Few RestrictionsElkhart County Code of Ordinances § 50.41
(A) In order to incentivize individual curbside recycling for persons within the county, the county will grant a subscription award to a QRH for each subscriber for whom a subscription award has not previously been paid and who receives recycling services from that QRH, up to a maximum amount of $150,000 per QRH per calendar year, in accordance with the requirements of this section and the te...
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