MRC members receive 2018 solid waste disposal plan
BANGOR — After more than eight years in the making, the Municipal Review Committee (MRC) has finalized and distributed contracts for its solid waste disposal plan to the 187 member communities — including many Piscataquis County towns — that it has served for more than 25 years. If approved, a state-of-the-art recycling and processing facility would be constructed in Hampden.
“In 2011, we received word from PERC lawyers that they would no longer be a viable option after 2018,” said Greg Lounder, executive director of the MRC. “Because of this our focus on other solutions intensified. We put out an RFP from which we received 15 responses. After site visits, research, and a lot of good-faith efforts to determine the best option, we chose an innovative technology partner by the name of Fiberight and we’re excited to have a solution in the best interests of the member communities going forward.”
Fiberight, along with Covanta — an internationally recognized energy partner that will invest in and operate the facility — has worked with the MRC on a plan for the region’s post-2018 solid waste.
A plant will be built in Hampden, with oversight and advocacy for the communities managed by the MRC. The Hampden facility will offer a one-stop location for municipal solid waste, organics and single-stream recyclables. The new arrangement will offer a lower tipping fee for communities and allow for member communities to share in the facility’s revenue. The plan does not rely on out-of-state waste and is endorsed by the Maine Resource Recovery Association.
“Knowing PERC subsidies would end, we planned to replace it,” stated Lounder. “We saw PERC’s sister facility in Biddeford, MERC, close when its subsidies ended. We acted thoroughly and deliberately to find a better option. The communities who continue to partner with MRC will enjoy more recycling, stable costs, advanced organics management and less reliance on landfills.”
Communities will need to sign joinder agreements by May 1 to share in facility revenue. Land purchases and road construction would begin for the facility this summer, with site work to begin in the fall. The new facility would be ready to receive municipal solid waste by April 1, 2018.