The High Point, N.C., city council voted in favor of a proposed project to build a construction and demolition facility in the city.
In a vote, Oct. 30th, the city council approved by a vote of 8-1 to allow MRR to pursue state and local permits to construct a C&D recycling facility and landfill. The vote caps several months of debate on whether or not the company could site a facility in the city.
The parent company of MRR High Point is MRR Southern, based in Raleigh, N.C. The company also has a C&D facility in Raleigh, which goes by the name Material Reclamation Limited.
While the project received the go-ahead from the City Council, the company has several other steps it must take before it can proceed. First, the company needs to obtain a franchise permit from the city, which will outline details of how and when the landfill can operate and High Point's enforcement and oversight role.
"The next big step is the whole North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources process," said Leonard Joyce, an engineer representing MRR, referring to two permits that must be obtained from the N.C. Department of Natural Resources. One must be granted before construction begins and the other after the site is developed but before it begins to operate.
The first approval, he said, could take up to a year to obtain, and it will likely be months before the company has completed the environmental studies needed to apply.
Norbert Hector, manager of MRR Southern, the parent company to MRR High Point, said the first vote is likely the most difficult step in the process. The franchise permit should be fairly easy step, Hector adds.
The advantage of locating the facility in High Point, according to Hector, is that the area is “in a desperate need of a C&D landfill in the area.” There are no disposal options in the area, he adds.
Hector estimates that if the project goes according to plan the High Point facility will be operational in one year.