Meridian Waste opens new Virginia MRF

Meridian Waste, Charlotte, North Carolina, announced the opening of its Blue Ridge material recovery facility (MRF) in Christiansburg, Virginia, on June 1.

The facility will process municipal solid waste, construction and demolition material, yard waste, metal, wood, cardboard, concrete and tires.

To allow for the facility to be built, Meridian Waste merged two Virginia Department of Environmental Quality permits for existing 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.   

According to the company, the new facility allows for improved operational efficiencies and improved aesthetics.  The new building is also significantly larger and incorporates a number of safety and efficiency improvements, including:

• 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-thru 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 stormwater system.
  

The construction project broke ground in April 2019 and took 13 months to complete; however, Meridian Waste was able to continue servicing its customers utilizing the preexisting MRF building purchased from Christiansburg-based Curtis and Associates in May 2018. Before Meridian took over the site, it housed a salvage yard and disposal and recycling facility. The new MRF is housed in a metal 80- 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,” Ashleigh Garnes, general manager of Meridian Waste, says. “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. Our entire Christiansburg team looks forward to servicing our existing and new customers with an unfailing commitment to quality care and fair rates.”