December 11, 2023

​For the second year in a row, Mon Power is teaming with East Fairmont High School to collect plastic waste, including items like bubble wrap, bread bags and shipping envelopes, as part of the nationwide NexTrex recycling challenge to promote sustainability within communities across the United States.

Over the next year, Mon Power employees and East Fairmont students are tasked with collecting 1,000 pounds of plastic. Employees have already begun gathering plastic waste from offices, warehouses, service centers and power plants.

The collected plastic materials are sent to a NexTrex processing facility, where they are transformed into composite decking materials that provide a durable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional building materials.

“Participating in different challenges run by NexTrex gets our community and our employees involved with a common goal of preventing tons of recyclable and reusable plastic from going to the landfill,” said Doc Garrett, Environmental technician. “A lot of supplies shipped to our facilities are wrapped in the type of plastic we can collect and recycle.”

Members of the public can also participate in the challenge by dropping off plastic waste at the designated bins set up inside the main entrances of the Fairmont Corporate Center and the Fairmont Contact Center. A list of acceptable plastic waste items is listed on the NexTrex website.

This endeavor comes on the heels of Mon Power completing NexTrex’s recent community challenge, where employees collected more than 500 pounds of plastic at Harrison Power Station and office buildings over the past six months. Additional locations throughout FirstEnergy’s service territory also participated in NexTrex challenge benefitting local schools earlier this year.

In recognition of Mon Power’s efforts, NexTrex awarded Mon Power with a bench made of recycled plastic. Employees will place the bench near a community garden they are planning to plant this coming spring at the Bartlett House, a homeless shelter in Morgantown, W.Va.