Meridian Waste and Wentzville City Officials Announce Opt-in Dual-Stream Recycling

Curbside Fiber Recycling to Begin the Week of July 15

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (May 15, 2019) – Meridian Waste, an integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company, along with City of Wentzville officials today announced dual-stream recycling program updates including fiber curbside collection to begin the week of July 15.

Wentzville first launched dual-stream collection in December with only rigids accepted for curbside recycling collection and fiber and glass accepted at drop-off locations. Residents have followed the new guidelines for the rigids only carts extremely well resulting in a 100 percent clean rate curbside, and not one load has been rejected due to contamination to date.

“We want to applaud Wentzville residents for making a smooth transition to dual stream and being careful to only put in aluminum, tin and steel cans or plastic labeled 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 in their rigid carts,” said Kevin O’Brien, area president for Meridian Waste. “We are excited to announce the next step in dual-stream collection by adding fiber curbside collection beginning the week of July 15, which is a more convenient option especially for families with more paper products to recycle.”

Beginning July 15, at a cost of $2.50 per month, residents will have the option to recycle fiber materials (paper and cardboard) curbside in a separate, second cart for fiber material only collected on alternating weeks with rigids (plastics and metals). Residents who wish to opt-in to the expanded program and receive a second cart can sign up at
http://bit.ly/curbsidefibersignup.

“We all want to do what’s right for our community and for our environment. Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. Wentzville residents have gone above and beyond to do the right thing and to continue recycling, even when it hasn’t been easy,” said Wentzville Mayor Nick Guccione. “Since our switch to dual-stream recycling late last year, Wentzville residents continuously produce some of the cleanest and least-contaminated recycling in the region. The City continues to look for ways to improve the recycling process and make recycling responsibly easy and convenient. I have heard from many residents that they want fiber recycling at the curb. For a small convenience fee, residents will now have the option to have fiber (including cardboard and mixed paper) collected curbside. Kudos again to our amazing Wentzville residents for their efforts to recycle responsibly!”

Residents can still recycle glass and fiber collection at the drop-off sites:
1. 15268 Veterans Memorial Pkwy. (formerly Car Credit City)
2. 802 E. Pearce Blvd. (under the water tower)
3. 1019 Schroeder Creek Blvd. (adjacent to the Law Enforcement Center)
4. 2110 E. Pitman Ave. (St. Charles County's Recycle Works West)

A green tag grading system was implemented for ongoing resident education and feedback to help keep the stream clean, which is vital to the success of the program. When a load contains incorrect items, it is deemed contaminated, rejected at the material recycling facility (MRF), and then sent to be disposed of in the landfill.

For more information including a dual-stream recycling collection calendar, visit MeridianWaste.com/Wentzville. For more information on the state of the recycling industry, visit MeridianWaste.com/MORecyclingCrisis.

Other St. Louis marketplace communities that have converted to dual-stream recycling include Fenton, Lake Saint Louis, Moscow Mills, Parkway, Troy, Warrenton, Wildwood and Wright City.

Photo: 35-gallon rigids cart, 64-gallon fiber cart, and 96-gallon trash cart

About Meridian Waste
Headquartered in Greensboro, Ga., Meridian Waste is a company defined by its commitment to servicing its customers, caring for and engaging its employees, and generating financial value for its shareholders while delivering a clean and healthy community. The company’s core waste business is centered on residential, commercial, and industrial non-hazardous waste collection and disposal. Currently, the company operates in St. Louis, Mo., Richmond, Va., Blacksburg, Va., Augusta, Ga., Northeast Florida and Knoxville, Tenn., servicing more than 144,000 residential, commercial, industrial and governmental customers. In addition to a fleet of commercial, residential, and roll-off trucks, the company operates one transfer station, three recycling facilities, three municipal solid waste landfills and two C&D landfills in which 955,800 tons of waste are safely disposed annually. For more information, visit MeridianWaste.com.