It was a great idea, and CP started selling it as the McMRF. Still leaving yourself time for maintenance. If you're doubling up to a two-shift situation, you're about 4,500-5,000 tons per month. It was processing 15-tons an hour, and it ran on a single shift about 2,500 tons per month. I ran that facility for about three or four years. Your capital outlay for a system like that today is about $4.5 million to $5 million dollars, tops.
It was relatively inexpensive in comparison to the large, regional MRFs. It had an OCCScreen, glass breaker, a single polishing screen and metal separation through a cross belt magnet. We partnered with CP Manufacturing to create this “McMRF” idea, which is what they eventually called it. We were onsite at the Onslow County MRF, and we assumed control of their original facility with the idea that we were going to build this new state-of-the-art, smaller, throughput MRF. It was a public/private partnership with Sonoco and Onslow County in Jacksonville, NC. Will Howard: I was working for Sonoco Recycling. Waste360: What was your role in working with the McMRF while at the Onslow County MRF? What were some of the goals for that project? He spoke to Waste360 about his career path, why he believes the McMRF can be a cost-effective solution for regional operations, and why he was destined to work in the recycling industry. Howard, who now serves as Waste Pro’s vice president of recycling, was named as a 2020 Waste360 40 Under 40 award winner for his reputation for leadership and innovation.
As the plant manager at the Onslow County Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in North Carolina, Will Howard collaborated with CP Manufacturing on building and testing the first generation of a sorting system known as the “McMRF.” Howard joined Waste Pro in 2015 as the production manager of Waste Pro’s Ocala MRF, where he managed the second generation of the McMRF system.