John Miller & Son has been named a yard waste recycling center for Upper Hanover, starting April 6. Pictured are John Miller Jr., left, and John Miller Sr.
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With almost a century of service under their belts, John Miller & Son, of Upper Hanover Township, knows a little something about waste and recycling.
And this week the local business will be expanding its “green” offerings to the Upper Perkiomen Valley as it takes over as Upper Hanover’s recycling center.
Starting April 6, township residents can drop off yard waste, including leaves, garden residue, shrubbery and tree trimmings (no larger than 4 inches in diameter) from 8 a.m. until noon. The facility will accept items from township residents the first Saturday of each month.
A mandatory recycling program within the township was enacted in March to comply with state requirements. Other materials, like plastics and glass, are expected to be recycled through residents’ waste haulers.
“It’s a good thing,” said John Miller Sr. of the added waste services. “The bigger guys [companies] always have an edge but there is room in the industry for everyone.”
John Miller & Son also accepts cardboard, paperboard, office paper and most metals free of charge. John Miller Jr. said people come from Quakertown and beyond to routinely drop off their recyclables, with cardboard being the most popular.
The business, founded in 1919 by Miller Sr.’s grandfather, started in Oreland as John Miller Inc. There it began as a waste hauling service.
Miller Sr. vividly remembers his younger days on the truck. While he joked about being the family slave, a sentiment carried on by Miller Jr. with long days and weekends invested in the business beginning at a young age, the business was a different one all together.
With little mechanization, Miller Sr. used to stand in the back of an open-top truck throwing everything by hand from the back to the front.
Decades later, while the equipment and recycling has drastically changed things for the better, the family business has grown to offer waste hauling and recycling for residential, commercial and industrial clients through its facilities in both Oreland and Upper Hanover. The business now includes Miller Sr.’s daughter, Wendy Colussi, and has expanded to 16 employees.
Both locations also specialize in heavy truck repairs, something dear to the Miller family’s hearts. Miller Sr.’s father served as a president of Wyndmoor Fire Company, Miller Sr. served with Wyndmoor and Ft. Washington for many years and Miller Jr. is chief of Green Lane Fire Company.
Aside from working on fire trucks, the facility also repairs a variety of other heavy equipment and has worked for customers all over the region including in Philadelphia, Reading, Scranton, Bloomsburg and Phillipsburg, New Jersey to name a few.
All their mechanics are emergency vehicle technician (EVT) certified with some holding ASE (Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) certifications.
At the Upper Hanover facility, which goes by the moniker “Shop 1 Fire Apparatus,” Miller Jr. said their customer service keeps them atop their field.
“We still care; this is a life for us,” he said. “We are generally available 24/7. The townships especially are small and need their equipment for snow plowing, etc.”
John Miller & Son also offer Generec, Winco and Cummins Onan generators and hopes to expand their sales arm into the emergency equipment field.
For more information on John Miller & Son, Inc., visit www.johnmillerson.com, or call (215)679-0969.