WESTMORELAND CLEANWAYS

Who We Are

"The mission of Westmoreland Cleanways is to protect, restore, and maintain the environmental qualities of our county for the benefit of all who live, work, and visit herein."



PA CleanWays was formed in the summer of 1990 after local residents from Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania, cleaned up several large illegal dumpsites along trails where they rode their horses. Volunteers organized a cleanup, enlisting the support of the local municipality and landfill to properly dispose of the trash. Because of the success of this initial cleanup, the group was encouraged to help other like-minded groups achieve the same result. PA CleanWays was formed as a non-profit organization that teams with local residents, local businesses, and local government to clean up illegal dumpsites and to keep them clean.

The program to clean up illegal dumpsites continued to expand. PA CleanWays instituted an adoption program similar to PennDOT's Adopt-a-Highway program to fight litter along local and county maintained roads. Soon, word spread to other counties about the success that PA CleanWays was having in the fight against illegal dumping and littering in Westmoreland County. As a result, PA CleanWays was incorporated as a statewide organization in order to institute similar programs in other counties. PA CleanWays of Westmoreland County became the first chapter in the new organization.

During those early cleanup activities, volunteers noticed that much of the trash found in illegal dumpsites and along the roads were items that were difficult to dispose of properly but that created a serious environmental hazard to wildlife, vegetation and waterways. Such items included tires, old appliances, scrap metal, car parts, chemicals and old paint, furniture and yard waste. PA CleanWays concluded that if a means to dispose of these items properly was available, less of the material would be illegally dumped. By 1993, collection/recycling events for such hard to dispose items as tires, appliances, lead acid batteries, Christmas trees and telephone books were organized. Thus was PA CleanWays' entry into the world of recycling.

In 1997, in recognition of its growing expertise in recycling, the Westmoreland County Commissioners signed a letter of understanding with PA CleanWays of Westmoreland County, designating the organization as the county recycling coordinators. That agreement has been extended to December 31, 2010.

In the spring of 2005, PA CleanWays, Inc. reorganized in order to concentrate primarily on the problems of illegal dumping and littering. As PA CleanWays of Westmoreland County was self-sufficient financially and administratively, and had developed many programs beyond illegal dumping and littering, the board of directors decided to incorporate independently of the new PA CleanWays, Inc., structure. Westmoreland Cleanways was formed to carry out its expanded mission while continuing to partner with PA CleanWays, Inc., as an independent affiliate on key programs such as illegal dumping and litter abatement.

From a small band of volunteers frustrated by the dangers posed by an illegal dumpsite in their neighborhood, Westmoreland Cleanways has grown into the premiere environmental and recycling organization serving Westmoreland County. We are managed by a small staff and volunteer board of directors. Programs are conducted each year by hundreds of volunteers, supporters, funders, and sponsors. A list of programs follows. More detailed information can be found throughout the rest of our website.