Savannah, Ga. – May 19, 2009 – For more than a decade, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has been recycling its scrap metal. In 2008, the GPA recycled more than 2.73 million pounds of scrap metal waste at Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal. The recycled tonnage represents 32 percent of the GPA’s total solid waste generated at the Port of Savannah last year.

“The GPA’s scrap metal recycling efforts follow our initiative to recycle and reuse material whenever possible,” said GPA’s Executive Director Doug J. Marchand. “From recycling concrete materials in berth upgrades to recycling scrap metal, the GPA strives to conduct port operations in an environmentally sensitive and responsible manner.”

Recycled scrap metal waste at the Port of Savannah includes damaged equipment, used parts, cables, etc. Income generated from scrap metal sales more than offsets the cost of the recycle program.

Most recently, a liquid bulk tank that was built in the late 1970s is being dismantled and removed from GPA’s Garden City Terminal. Scrap metal from the 15-million gallon tank will be recycled by the contractors removing it. Concrete from the tank’s base will be reused in GPA’s terminal improvement projects. Once the 15-acre tract is cleared, it will revert to container storage and will incorporate GPA’s reuse of recycled materials for paving.

“From our board to our employees, everyone at the GPA is working to decrease our overall impact on the environment,” said GPA’s Director of Engineering and Maintenance Wilson Tillotson. “With every project, we review opportunities to reuse and recycle materials including general maintenance and major upgrades.”