Reader Profile: William Merry

William Merry has been an industry trailblazer ever since college, when he heeded a professor’s advice to study the emerging field of solid waste management. As general manager of California’s Monterey Regional Waste Management District (MRWMD), Merry has guided the incubation of several solid waste initiatives. His operation’s 5-MW landfill-gas-to-energy plant was one of the first such projects in the US when it began operating 30 years ago. In 2013, in cooperation with development partner Zero Waste Energy, the district began a pilot project operating California’s first anaerobic digester (AD), using food scraps and yardwaste as feedstock to generate 100 MW of renewable power to sell “over the fence” to support the regional wastewater treatment plant. The Last Chance Mercantile, a reuse store, operates at the site entrance, employs 10, and generates $750,000 annually. Adopting new ideas early and taking small steps in developing projects has underscored the district’s success, Merry points out. It helps that the MRWMD has 150 years of remaining capacity, which Merry views as an opportunity to assess proposed conversion technologies absent of the pressing need for landfill capacity. At the same time, member agencies have worked cooperatively and progressively to achieve recycling rates between 60% and 70% as measured by the state’s AB 939 law.

What He Does Day to Day
Merry oversees all district operations and functions, reporting to a nine-member board of directors. The MRWMD-formed as an independent special district in 1951-has 105 employees and a $21 million annual budget to provide services to western Monterey County and the central coast region. Merry works with staff, member agencies, cities, the county, and regional regulatory and community agencies to ensure services are carried out efficiently and within regulatory requirements six days weekly; the LFG engine generators produce renewable power 24/7. Hundreds of vehicles enter and exit the operation, processing 1,800 tons of refuse daily. Merry’s daily tasks and challenges are “due in no small part to the constantly evolving state and federal regulations governing solid waste management and requiring protection of the air, soil, and waters of the state and ensuring public health,” he points out.

What Led Him to This Work
Merry earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During graduate studies, a professor offered him work-study and a partial scholarship to study solid waste management in one of the first such university curriculums at the time. The work included checking field lysimeters for data related to solid waste. In 1982, when interviewing for the district engineer and assistant general manager position, Merry was the only candidate of 120 with any solid waste management education or experience. He was chosen after the first selected candidate declined the job.

What He Likes Best About His Work
Merry, who grew up on a small northern Wisconsin dairy farm, says he enjoys working for a medium-sized organization. In his early years, Merry-who is at home in the outdoors-would take the bulldozer, compactor, or motor grader controls. “I enjoy working with the district’s dedicated employees,” he says, adding that he and his staff find it satisfying to recycle as much and as efficiently as possible with the resources available. At each day’s end, he derives a strong sense of satisfaction that their work has made a difference. “It’s good work, well worth our efforts,” he says. SWANA agreed, having named MRWDM the “Best Integrated Solid Waste System in North America” in 1998. Merry has endeavored to sustain that title to this day.

His Greatest Challenge
Identifying and making the changes necessary to continue to deliver the most effective and efficient waste management programs to member agencies is Merry’s biggest challenge. Case in point: to develop and implement a more sustainable revenue model. “In a state with a declared zero waste goal, the current revenue model is broken, since 75% of the district’s revenue is derived by charging for waste by the ton,” Merry says. Another challenge: identifying and implementing a conversion technology to extract more energy from waste at a reasonable cost and reduce residue going to the landfill. “We hope the selected AD technology is that pathway,” says Merry.