Porter County, IN Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

Sec. 18-84, in Article IV, Refuse and Recycling, of Chapter 18, Solid Waste, and adopted by Ord. No. 04-18, governs how a registered hauler must pick up trash and recyclables from unincorporated Porter County households. Subsection (b) requires every solid waste collection firm to offer curbside recycling service to each of its residential customers, sets a minimum pickup frequency of once every two weeks, and bars firms from giving a discount to customers who opt out of recycling. The recyclables a hauler must collect at minimum, per subsection (b)(2), are commingled No.

1 and No. 2 plastics, steel, aluminum, tin and bi-metal cans, clear, green and brown glass jars and bottles, and fiber including newspaper, magazines, junk mail, old phone books, paperboard and corrugated cardboard; collected recyclables can never be landfilled or incinerated. Subsection (a) requires a firm to keep at least 85 percent of the material set out for recycling actually recycled into a reusable commodity rather than disposed of. Subsection (c) requires firms to offer residential customers at least two service levels and fee schedules tied to the volume or weight of refuse set out, though an unlimited-collection option can still be offered if the unit-based fee structure remains competitive and still promotes waste reduction.

Subsection (d) lets the county health department, the solid waste management district, the state environmental agency, local fire departments and law enforcement inspect collection operations, and requires the hauler to report collected tonnage to the district by the 15th of the month after each quarter; a late or missing report is itself a violation. A separate Sec. 18-82 requires a hauler to first register annually with the district, by January 15, before operating in the county.