Earth Circle Recycling
As founder and president of Earth Circle Recycling, Jerry Witter's passion for the environment began when he was a child growing up in rural Arkansas.
"My parents had a farm and people would just dump their trash and other stuff on our farm without our knowledge or permission. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the farm and, even at a very young age, had a desire to recycle everything I could rather than just throwing it away or burning it."
After graduating from college, Witter left Arkansas to pursue his passion for art in St. Louis. He received a scholarship to Washington University to study Art & Sculpture. But, as they say, you can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy, and Jerry never forgot his childhood experiences of recycling. While at University, he specialized in Environmental Sculptures made out of recycled items like old tires, plastic and other industrial waste materials.
Jerry graduated from Washington University with a Masters Degree in Sculpture in 1991 and began teaching art classes at St. Louis Community College. To keep himself busy on the weekends, he started a residential recycling curbside service in the University City area.
In 1994, after only four years in business, he grew his weekend gig into a full-time operation. He was awarded a contract with the city of Maplewood in 1996 and the City of St. Louis in 1997 for residential curbside recycling collection. He went from a small business to becoming one of the larger recycling service providers in St. Louis.
"The reason I was able to accomplish so much in the recycling world was because I always stuck with my mission statement, which is creatively assist people and businesses with their recycling efforts while providing the friendliest and more reliable service in the area," Witter said.
Witter also attributes his success to his clients.
"Of course, all of the credit goes to my clients who make the extra effort to recycle. Picture thousands of people at home and work placing a few pieces of paper and a couple of bottles and cans in our recycling bins every day. Their individual efforts quickly accumulate into mountains of recyclables."
Jerry now operates a recycling center for the City of St. Louis Recycling Center and services over 500 commercial businesses and over 6500 residences. Earth Circle collects and recycles over eight million pounds of recyclables a year.
Jerry still has a passion for sculpture and photography and never ceases to be amazed at how he grew a childhood passion into a full-fledged business that continues to expand and grow. If you'd like to talk to Jerry, please call him at 314.664.1450. You can find out more about Earth Circle Recycling at EarthCircleRecycling.com.