“Boxx” Up Your Garbage and Recyclables

Garbage at the Boxx facility that will be taken to a landfill in Sarona, Wisconsin

Josh and Heidi Boxx own Boxx Sanitation, a garbage disposal company in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They bought the company in 2006. Why own a garbage company? “I wanted to own a business with minimal competition,” Josh said, “and everyone has garbage.”

Boxx Sanitation employs drivers to collect garbage and secretaries to handle customer service. The company also employs three mechanics to fix trucks and equipment and do building maintenance.

With only 18 employees, the owners do multiple jobs. Heidi deals with finances and customer service. Josh often collects garbage. He and Heidi also inform customers about proper garbage disposal and eco-friendliness.

If an individual isn’t sure about an item, Josh recommends recycling it. “Make sure all recycling is put in the recycling and not the garbage,” he said. “If it isn’t, it sits in dumps and is never taken out.”

GLASS AND PLASTIC

Two of the most common recyclables are glass and plastic. “Glass isn’t ‘recycled’ here in the traditional sense,” Josh said. That would not be cost effective. Instead, it is crushed into little pieces and used to make roads in landfills. Recycled plastics are melted down to make other materials.

What happens when landfills are full? “They may be reopened, and pipes will be put in to collect the methane gas [that is released by decomposing garbage],” said Josh. Or energy cubes may be made from the garbage. Those cubes of garbage, according to Heidi, “can be burned in an incinerator, and the heat will be used as energy.”