History of Indiana Solid Waste Districts

The Recycling (Solid Waste) Districts were created in 1990 by Legislative Act 1240 which became Public Law 10-1990. The purpose of this law was to reduce the amount of material going to landfills by 50% by the year 2001 statewide. This law also set up the Board of Directors as being made up from seven (7) local elected officials in the county. The Miami County Solid Waste District Board of Directors was created in May of 1992.

The funding of solid waste districts could be set up using these sources:

• Disposal (tipping) fees from landfills within the county
• A flat charge to all property owners in the county
• Property tax levy

The founding board members chose to use the flat charge ("user fee" or "recycling assessment") billed yearly to all property owners within Miami County. The County has no active landfills, so this option was not able to be used. The monies collected from this once per year collection are used to cover all costs of recycling and disposal of the materials collected.