Photo provided by Meridian Waste
Meridian Waste, an integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company, has opened its newest Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) located at 205 Scattergood Drive, NW, in Christiansburg.
The facility is named Blue Ridge MRF. The company successfully merged two Virginia Department of Environmental Quality permits for older Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs), Blue Ridge Disposal PBR 104 and Resource Management Group PBR 565, into one permit and built the new facility under the requirements of the PBR 104 permit number.
The beneficial result was to improve operational efficiency and noticeably improve aesthetics. The new building is significantly larger, incorporating a number of safety and efficiency improvements. These include a larger floor, allowing for greater and safer separation of recyclable and non-recyclable materials; a more accessible entrance and exit for customer vehicular traffic, a drive-through pit for easier loading of materials into tractors trailers; a litter collection program including enhanced fencing and manual collection, and a leachate collections system and state-of-the-art storm water system.
The construction project broke ground in April 2019 and took 13 months to complete. During that time, Meridian Waste was able to continue servicing its customers utilizing the pre-existing MRF building purchased from Curtis and Associates in May 2018, whose family operated the site as a salvage yard and disposal and recycling facility. The new MRF is a metal 80-foot by 100-foot building with an elevated, concrete tipping floor that allows for more efficient processing.
“Opening this new Materials Recovery Facility has been one of my primary goals since joining Meridian Waste two years ago,” said General Manager and Blacksburg resident Ashleigh Garnes. “I had the opportunity to be part of the Meridian Waste team upon the company’s entry into this market in 2018. Our team realized there was a dire need for a secondary disposal and recycling option to manage the community’s growing waste and recycling challenges.
“We know by recycling valuable materials, we’re creating a cleaner environment for the New River Valley region for generations to come,” Gaines said. “Our entire Christiansburg team looks forward to servicing our existing and new customers with an unfailing commitment to quality care and fair rates.”
The Blue Ridge MRF is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. until noon.
Materials accepted include municipal solid waste (MSW), construction and demolition (C&D), yard waste, metal, wood, cardboard, concrete and tires.
Materials not accepted include hazardous waste, gasoline cans and tanks, devices containing mercury, waste containing asbestos, propane tanks, sludge, batteries, biomedical waste, septic tank waste and appliances containing freon.