The City of Akron announced several meetings for residents to offer input, ask questions and learn about the future of the Middlebury Waste Transfer Station, currently located at 389 Fountain St. 

Waste Management, Inc., which is the city’s contractor for waste transfer services, is pursuing the development of a new waste transfer facility at 1400 E. Archwood Ave. A waste transfer station is a specialized site designed to receive, store, process, and move waste material from one point to another, particularly in urban areas.

According to a city press release, the new site would replace both the Middlebury waste transfer station and the Akron Greenstar recycling facility located at 1535 Exeter Rd. in East Akron.

“This is a process happening hand in hand with the communities most impacted, and we are taking our time and listening to our residents,” said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik in the release. “I look forward to the conversations to come with all those involved.”  

The Waste Management operation on Fountain Street is housed in a building that was built in the 1970s that sits approximately 50 feet away from the nearest residential homes. This, along with the limited size of the parcel is a long-standing, “critical concern for the neighborhood,” the release stated.  

The facility Waste Management is proposing for Archwood Avenue would be located
“considerably” further from residents’ homes, sit within an industrial and commercial zone, and be located on a much larger parcel of land. 

City representatives have met with members of Families Against City Transfer Stations (FACTS), The Well Community Development Corporation, Neighborhood Network, and the residents of Bettie Street who have been involved and active for many years in advocating for relocation of the Fountain Street facility.  

Waste transfer stations require zoning review and approval by the city – it is expected the matter will be on the agenda for the July 12 Planning Commission at 9 a.m. in Akron City Council Chambers at 166 S. High St.

Meetings begin Tuesday

Tuesday, June 18 at 12:30 p.m. and Tuesday, June 18 at 6 p.m., at the Goodyear Branch Library, 60 Goodyear Blvd.  

Hosted by Ward 10 City Council member Sharon Connor and Ward 5 City Council member Johnnie Hannah.         

Thursday, June 20 at 6 p.m. at the Robert J. Otterman Ellet Community Center, 2449 Wedgewood Dr. 

Hosted by Ward 6 City Council member Brad McKitrick and Ward 5 City Council member Johnnie Hannah. 

The City of Akron and Waste Management are coordinating site tours of Waste Management’s Oakwood facility so stakeholders can see what a modern waste transfer station looks like and to answer resident questions.

A public tour is scheduled for July 9 at 6 p.m. Reach out to mayor@akronohio.gov to sign up. Comments, feedback, and questions can be sent to zoning@akronohio.gov, the mayor at mayor@akronohio.gov and to Director of Sustainability and Resiliency Casey Shevlin at cshevlin@akronohio.gov.

Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.