Morgan County, IN Trash & Recycling: Recycling Rules (2026)

Morgan County Code § 51.04(A) sets two rules for anyone using a recycling facility or container in unincorporated Morgan County, Indiana: no one may discard any material other than recyclables into a facility or container meant for collecting designated recyclable materials, and no one may scavenge, meaning remove materials without authorization, from a facility or container holding recyclables that still carry value. The chapter defines SCAVENGING as the uncontrolled and unauthorized removal of materials from solid waste at any point in the waste management system, and ties the county's recycling infrastructure to its membership in the West Central Solid Waste District, organized under I.C.

13-21-3-2. Enforcement runs through § 51.06: the County Board of Health and County Health Officers carry the duty to enforce the chapter, and Health Officers are authorized to perform inspections to fulfill that duty. Anyone who violates any provision of the chapter, including the recycling-facility rules in § 51.04(A), is subject to fines or other injunctive action as specified in the chapter, which for Chapter 51 violations tops out at $1,000 for a third or later offense under § 51.99. The county's abatement and lien procedures in § 51.06, including the written notice of violation, the 15-to-30-day compliance window, referral to the County Attorney, and a property lien for unpaid abatement costs, apply to recycling-facility violations the same way they apply to open dumping, since both sit inside Chapter 51.