Porter County, IN Trash & Recycling: Recycling Requirements (2026)

Section 18-84, in Chapter 18's Article IV, sets the operating rules for residential haulers rather than a per-household mandate to recycle. Subsection (a) requires that materials set out for recycling not be "handled, landfilled, incinerated, nor disposed of" in any way that blocks recycling "at a minimum 85 percent of the materials back into a reusable commodity," putting the diversion obligation on the collection firm's processing chain. Subsection (b) requires every hauler operating in the unincorporated county to "offer a curbside recycling service to each of their residential customers," with pickup "at a minimum once every two weeks," and bars firms from giving a discount to customers who opt out of recycling, removing the financial incentive to skip it.

Franchise contracts already running past February 1, 2005 were grandfathered until renewal, at which point the recycling terms must be folded in. The minimum accepted material list is spelled out: commingled No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, steel, aluminum, tin and bi-metal cans, clear, green and brown glass, and fiber including newspaper, magazines, junk mail, phone books, paperboard and corrugated cardboard. Subsection (d) gives the county health department, solid waste management district, state environmental management agency, fire departments and law enforcement inspection authority over any premises or equipment tied to collection, and requires quarterly written weight reports on refuse and recyclables collected, due by the 15th of the month following each quarter.