After shepherding Fiberight launch, key municipalities director to step down
Courtesy / Fiberight
Seen here is the Fiberight single-stream recyclables and municipal solid waste processing facility under construction in Hampden. Plant operations are expected to ramp up over the next few months. Municipal Review Committee Inc., a group of 115 Maine cities and towns that launched the Fiberight project, said its longtime executive director will step down to explore new career opportunities.
Municipal Review Committee Inc., a group of 115 Maine cities and towns, said its longtime executive director will step down to explore new career opportunities.
Greg Lounder played a key role in shepherding the regional recycling and waste-processing plant Fiberight to its commissioning next month, according to a Feb. 22 news release.
Lounder will step down March 1.
“Twenty-five years of dedicated service will be difficult to replace,” MRC Board President Chip Reeves said in the release. "With his commitment to the MRC's mission of ensuring affordable, environmentally sound disposal of municipal solid waste in the long-term, Greg has been a staunch advocate of the Fiberight project on MRC's behalf and we are honored to have had his service."
The Fiberight single-stream recyclables and municipal solid waste processing facility in Hampden is on track to start next month and ramp up through May and June. The $70 million, 144,000-square-foot waste-to-energy plant is expected to convert 80% of the waste it takes in either into renewable energy or recycling it. Using a high-tech process it will sort, recycle, reuse and refine 180,000 tons of municipal trash per year from 115 municipalities once it's fully operational.
Lounder felt it was a good time to step down and support a management transition plan, according to the release. Lounder also has offered to share his institutional knowledge in the future should the need arise.
Lounder, who began his career in municipal solid waste planning 27 years ago, said Fiberight’s construction and commissioning is the high point of his career.
"Nothing will ever replace the sense of pride and accomplishment I have for the work of the Municipal Review Committee to successfully see this project transition from ‘back of the napkin’ concepts to the first trucks rolling into the advanced recycling and processing facility in a few weeks,” he said in the release. “It's been a long journey but I'm confident in the abilities of my counterparts to take it from here and for the Municipal Review Committee to continue its mission.”
The Municipal Review Committee’s board of directors will formally consider Lounder's resignation at its meeting Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. at the Machias Savings Bank, Community Room, 581 Wilson St., Brewer. A management transition plan will be announced at the board meeting. The committee anticipates advertising for a permanent executive director in the coming weeks. Interested candidates can visit the Municipal Review Committee's website for more information.
Municipal Review Committee Inc., a nonprofit organization, was formed by municipalities in 1991.
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