Sixteen months ago, Fiberight signed an agreement with the Municipal Review Committee to build a new recycling and waste processing plant for this region. That agreement began a journey through Maine to garner your votes and earn your trust. At town hall meetings, council sessions and even visits to transfer stations, we learned much about how regional communities take pride in their resources and ownership of their future.
We learned that waste transfer stations are more than some forgotten corner of the neighborhood. Indeed, on weekends they can become social gathering places, where the community actively engages on issues of the day while properly disposing of and recycling their household waste. We learned we had a high bar to cross when it came to educating people that a new opportunity was the right opportunity.
Unfortunately, we also learned what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a negative campaign developed for, what I can only assume, is an attempt to protect entrenched interests and keep Fiberight out of Maine.
But through all this noise and mudslinging, the vast majority of councils, select boards and public votes have made a choice, the right choice, to remain with the MRC and move into the future with the recycling, environmental and financial benefits of the Fiberight plan.
With these votes and the recent issuing by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection of draft facility permit approvals for public review, the project has achieved its first milestone and will enter Phase 2: completion of construction designs for the new facility. The DEP permits were a critical component of this first milestone, as they will guide us in the design and operations of our waste recycling plant and define our environmental responsibilities.
Through the many meetings, discussions and workshops held in recent months, we have heard over and over again that Mainers prefer waste to be recycled rather than landfilled. We are designing the facility and operations to respect the waste hierarchy established in the state of Maine.
So despite the negative campaigning, the expensive lobbying and the public relations scare tactics employed by existing waste facility ownership groups in the region, we are deeply encouraged by the support of the region’s communities and we are focused on moving into the construction phase. We look forward to working hand in hand with the many small, Maine-based, waste haulers to craft an environmentally superior solution for commercial waste, consistent with the needs of the communities that have made long-term commitments to our facility.
As the municipal fiscal years come to a close, we encourage those communities that have yet to join and make a commitment to the MRC/Fiberight proposal to do so, so that they, too, can enjoy the environmental and financial benefits it offers post 2018.
Our recycling plant will be right-sized to process waste that originates solely from within the state, and because of seasonal peaks our capacity to accept any waste other than from joining MRC community members is limited during the summer months. We encourage those still in the process of making their decision to join us and the MRC, so we can ensure a home for your waste year-round.
Many individuals approached me at town meetings and told me that what we are planning to do is the right thing to do; this one-on-one interaction truly helped keep our spirits up. Many councilors and selectmen toiled until late in the night and put in the effort to understand all the issues and complexities around such an important decision. And the MRC and its board members traveled long distances to so many late night meetings around the state, without recompense or reward, because they believe the collective is greater than the individual in matters of waste management.
All of them have made this project possible.
As we move into this next chapter, we vow to keep you updated with our progress and involved in the process at every stage. I plan on engaging with communities and managers in the coming months to work toward establishing new diversion programs — textiles, for example — that can increase the opportunity to recycle more of our trash.
We recognize the great trust you are placing in us, and we are humbled that we have been given this unique opportunity to chart a new course for you.
Craig Stuart-Paul is founder and CEO of Fiberight.