MARYVILLE, Ill. – There are a variety of reasons power poles are taken out of service. In some cases, they simply age out.  

“The average life span of a pole is 40 years,” said Brian Bretsch, spokesman for Ameren Illinois.   

Storms and vehicle crashes can also lead to power poles being replaced. In the past, Ameren workers would pile the poles and eventually put them in a dumpster.   

“They used to take chain saws and have to cut them up into pieces,” said Bretsch.   

Beginning last year, Ameren partnered with recycler Blackwood Solutions. Ameren continues to remove old poles and pile them in the St. Louis metro.

Now, Blackwood Solutions hauls them away and repurposes the poles into fence posts, parking barriers and other products. The recycling program is operational in Missouri and Illinois.  

“We really like this program because it allows us to be really good environmental stewards,” said Bretsch. “We’re keeping a lot of wood waste out of local landfills.”   

He said the program also reduces the risk of workers being injured because they no longer need to cut the poles to fit in a dumpster.  

Bretsch said the utility company has approximately 1.3 million poles and nearly 9,500 multi-pole structures across its 43,700-square-mile service territory. 

He said approximately 900 tons of poles have been recycled to date. The program is also extending this year to include recycling wood pallets and other wood products.