Walter H. (“Wally”) Hall Joins Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc Board of Directors and Senior Leadership

A New Direction as a Waste Industry Solutions Company

MILTON, GA / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2016 / The Board of Directors of Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: MRDN) today announced the appointment of Walter H. Hall as a director of the firm, effective immediately. Mr. Hall's appointment expands the Board to 2 directors. Joining the Chairman & CEO, Jeff Cosman, Mr. Hall is the first director appointed to the board with several other appointments to follow. Mr. Hall will be a member of the firm's Evaluation, Executive and Marketing Committees.

"Appointing Wally to the Board and having him join me as President and Chief Operating Officer is a great day for the growth trajectory of Meridian," said Jeff S. Cosman, Chairman & CEO. "Wally's experience building Advanced Disposal from two trucks to over 3,000 is certainly a benchmark for Meridian to focus on in the next 24-36 months. With this announcement, The Company is signaling to the market, the industry and the shareholders, Meridian is preparing to execute on its growth strategy. Meridian is excited to have a successful industry leader with Wally's background join the Company in these new roles."

In addition to Mr. Hall's responsibilities with Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc, Mr. Hall will be joining JS Cosman Enterprises as President and COO. JS Cosman Enterprises is the Management Company of Mr. Cosman's holdings in telecom, mobile apps, parts and materials and upcoming transactions in specific industries currently being pursued over the next several months by Mr. Cosman. Mr. Hall will lead all operational teams in each of Mr. Cosman's entities.

In 2014, Mr. Hall left Advanced Disposal following the integration of Veolia and Advanced Disposal that created a $1.3 billion annual revenue company. In addition to being one of three founders of Advanced Disposal, Mr. Hall's last position was Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Hall was responsible for over 5,300 employees, 3,000 trucks, 91 collection locations, 45 landfills, 71 Transfer Stations and 21 recycling facilities.

Mr. Hall is an alumnus of the Browning Ferris Industries' ("BFI") management trainee program. Being a part of this program makes Wally exceptionally qualified to be a Senior Leader at Meridian. BFI consistently put out industry senior leaders for over 25+ years before it was merged into Allied Waste. Wally is a graduate of Mississippi College and former College Baseball Coach at The University of Mississippi. Mr. Hall began his career in the waste industry in 1990.

Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. recently announced that as of December 22, 2015 it had secured from Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending Group, L.P. a $55 million credit facility, with $40 million of such amount funded at closing (the "Financing") and, simultaneously with the Financing, the Company closed on two strategic acquisitions (the "Acquisitions"). The Financing and the Acquisitions allow the Company to become a fully integrated waste management operation with major hauling assets, transfer stations and a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfill in the St. Louis, Missouri marketplace. The first of the Acquisitions is comprised of the purchase by the Company of all of the membership interests of Christian Disposal, LLC dba Christian Environmental Services ("Christian"), which includes ownership of Christian's subsidiary, FWCD, LLC, pursuant to the closing of an Amended and Restated Membership Purchase Agreement (the "Purchase Agreement"), as amended by the First Amendment thereto (the "Amendment"). Christian Disposal LLC, DBA Christian Environmental Services is one of the largest Missouri based integrated solid waste service companies that provides solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. Christian is based in Winfield, Missouri.

MERIDIAN WASTE SOLUTIONS, INC is a company focused on solutions in the waste industry. Currently, the Company operates in St. Louis, Missouri as Meridian Waste Services, Christian Environmental Services and Meridian Waste Solutions, which serves over 65,000 residential, commercial and temporary customers in the St. Louis, MO market. In addition to a fleet of commercial, residential and temporary roll off trucks, the Company operates three transfer stations and one municipal solid waste landfill. Meridian is focused on providing unparalleled customer service in the form of long-term and short-term contracts.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve certain risks and uncertainties. The actual results or outcomes of Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. may differ materially from those anticipated. Although Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any such assumptions could prove to be inaccurate. Therefore, Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. can provide no assurance that any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release will prove to be accurate.

In light of the significant uncertainties and risks inherent in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, such information should not be regarded as a representation by Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. that its objectives or plans will be achieved. Included in these uncertainties and risks are, among other things, fluctuations in operating results, general economic conditions, uncertainty regarding the results of certain legal proceedings and competition. Forward-looking statements consist of statements other than a recitation of historical fact and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "intend," "expect," "will," "anticipate," "estimate" or "continue" or the negatives thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Because they are forward-looking, such statements should be evaluated in light of important risk factors and uncertainties. These risk factors and uncertainties are more fully described in Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc.'s most recent Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under the heading entitled "Risk Factors." Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. does not undertake an obligation to update publicly any of its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.