Burning Trash
Breathing in smoke is never good for you. To some, it may seem like a good idea to burn their trash rather than pay for trash pickup or disposal at a landfill. But it is illegal to burn trash. And anyone who burns trash, including household garbage, construction debris, or waste tires is creating a toxic situation.
Toxic Smoke
Smoke from burning household trash, including plastic containers, is more toxic than the smoke from burning clean wood. Studies have found dioxins, arsenic, mercury, chromium, PCBs, lead, and other dangerous chemicals in smoke from burning household trash. Serious health effects can be caused by harmful chemicals from burning items commonly found in household trash. Protecting your health is worth the small fee for proper waste disposal and there are alternatives to burning.
Residential Burning
Indiana Department of Environmental Management is the regulatory agency concerning open burning and under the Indiana State Open Burning Regulations (326 IAC 4-1-4.1 (c), residential open burning in Porter County is not allowed. For additional information concerning open burning and to lodge open burning complaints, please visit the IDEM's webpage concerning open burning.
Alternatives
For information concerning composting, household hazardous waste days, recycling, waste reduction, and a variety of other open burning alternatives for Porter County please visit the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County's website.