The Lake County Solid Waste Management District ("District") was established on February 5, 1991 as a single-county district by resolution of the Lake County Commissioners, pursuant to the Indiana State Legislature's passage of House Bill 1240 which required counties to form solid waste management districts. Since then, the District has developed a comprehensive plan of education, recycling assistance and technical assistance to provide countywide programs and to provide effective and efficient integrated solid waste management for the benefit of its citizens.
In September 2016, the District's Board of Directors adopted a resolution adopting the "Journey to Zero" program. By adopting this resolution, Lake County became the first county in Indiana to tackle the zero waste mission. This program is designed to go beyond the State of Indiana's 50% recycling goal and take our businesses, residents, schools and organizations on a journey to achieving zero waste. Over the next five years, our community will begin to hear more about new programs and initiatives designed to moving us towards becoming a zero waste County.
The District currently offers programs such as Environmental Education for Schools, the Enviromobile program, Household Hazardous Waste program, Drop-Off Recycling Centers, Tire Recycling program, Electronics Recycling program, Latex Paint Recycling, Battery Recycling, Leaf Collection in various unincorporated areas of the County, and Composting - turning leaves and wood waste, as well as pre-consumer food waste,into a usable soil amendment. In addition to education and recycling programs, the District also provides each municipality in Lake County with recycling grants to assist those municipalities with recycling efforts consistent with the District's statutory responsibilities.