Lafayette, IN Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 6.07.070, part of Chapter 6.07 as rewritten by Ord. No. 2025-06 (Exh. A) and effective March 3, 2025, sets the substantive standard for what belongs in the recycling stream. Items must be empty, clean, and dry, and residents place them loosely and unbagged directly into the recycling container the city issues free of charge under § 6.07.040(B): one 96-gallon recycling container per residential unit for single-family homes and buildings up to three units. The section expressly bars placing non-recyclable items or ordinary waste in the recycling container, a mixing problem known as contamination, which can force an entire load to be rejected.

For oversized cardboard, the code carves out an exception: large corrugated pieces may be broken down flat and set out next to the recycling and waste containers on the collection date rather than stuffed inside the cart. Because the recycling container remains city property under § 6.07.040(E) and must stay at the issued address, and because § 6.07.020 makes the dwelling unit's owner liable for a tenant's noncompliance, both owners and renters share responsibility for keeping the recycling stream free of garbage, rubbish, and other contaminants.