About Us

Werlor has been a family owned company since 1969. Jerry Wertz and Tom Taylor started the company with one truck, a chicken coup and one contract!

Jerry Wertz and Tom Taylor in 1969

Werlors’ first operations building in 1969

1969 Werlor  began as a family business founded by Jerry Wertz and Tom Taylor.  The name “Wer-lor” was formed by combining the two last names; Wertz & Taylor.  It all began with a 1000 sq. ft. chicken coop and a pony stable, which served as an administrative building.  The first garage was 20 x 20 and served as the shop for the One company truck, which had to be serviced one end at a time. They would service the front of the vehicle, and then turn it around to service the rear.  Werlor began with one contract, Schuller, (after trying for 2 years to get it).  The company began by offering roll-off services to industrial accounts, then worked backward to do residential service.

Werlors’ first operations building in 1969

1971 The company purchased their first residential/commercial garbage truck.  By working day and night, 75 commercial containers were built by hand.

1973

Werlor, Inc. began to recycle cardboard.  This was done with a baler in a 7000 sq. ft. facility.  A wood shaving operation was also established, packing animal bedding into 40 lb. paper sacks.  Both the recycling operation and the wood shaving operation proved to be unprofitable.  At the same time, co-founder Tom Taylor left the company and sold his portion to his partner, Jerry Wertz.

1985

Werlor, Inc. continues to grow and now employs 20 people.  During this time, a new office was constructed and boasts a 21,000 sq. ft. area.  Tom Taylor rejoins the company as the Vice President, Sales.  Casey Wertz begins working in the family business as a bagger on the back of a garbage truck.  It was during the past years that the company also gained another valuable employee, Mark Hageman, who will become the future Vice President, Operations.

1989

Werlor, Inc. continues to expand its operations by purchasing another local company which was formally a division of S.C.A.  This acquisition allowed the company to consolidate its rural residential routes, and become the areas choice for residential service. 

1990

Werlor, Inc. was awarded a 3-year contract from The City of Defiance to provide weekly residential service to over 3,000 homes.  Soon after, Werlor made another acquisition; Merit, a division of Serv-All was bought after it became unprofitable for them to operate without the City of Defiance contract.  With Tom Taylor as Vice President, Recycling, a second attempt was made for a recycling operation.  The original facility was expanded, doubling its size.  Werlor, Inc. once again expanded its operations by purchasing another company, Archbold Refuse Service.  The name of the company remained, and Judy Wertz became the owner and president of its operations.  Soon after, another area company, Wauseon Refuse Service was acquired and combined with A.R.S.   With the above acquisitions, Werlor, Inc. has grown to become one of the largest local haulers in NW Ohio servicing all of 5 counties and portions of 3 or more.

1999

Recognizing the community’s commitment to preserving our natural resources, Werlor expanded its recycling operation in 1999 into a new 22,400 sq. ft. facility, making it the region’s premier recycling center.

2003

Werlor was approved by the Ohio Department of Health to offer ground glass as an alternative to filter sand normally used in leach bed systems. Since the crushed glass allows for excellent drainage and has less absorbency than sand, the glass works better in leachate fields as the particulates stick to the glass better and allow clean water to percolate down to the soil.

2004

Werlor begins Heartland Disposal Service as a startup company in Napoleon Ohio. The company begins operations with 2-days worth of residential and commercial stops.

2005

Werlor has now purchased a larger, third generation machinery for turning glass in to sand to try to keep up with demand for leachate field sand.  A fleet of 5 semi trucks is now servicing the I-75 corridor five days a week at manufacturing plants for mixed recycling commodities in trailers. Heartland Disposal Service has grown to three residential and commercial trucks five days a week and now has two roll off trucks servicing customers five days a week. A new building with three maintenance bays on five acres is purchased for Heartland in Napoleon.

2006

Werlor begins using Bio-Diesel in its fleet of trucks. Planning begins for an expansion at Werlor’s recycling facility which will double the warehouse space available to store baled commodities. A.R.S. completes the building of a solid waste transfer facility in Archbold. These two capital investments represent Werlor commitment to reinvest in our local economy. Werlor will continue to invest in the most state-of-the-art equipment and expand its facilities in order to meet the needs of the coming century.

2009

Werlor celebrates 40 years of exceptional service to Northwest Ohio.