BY BRIAN SMITH
The Savannah City Council approved a 10-year contract today with Pratt Industries to begin a citywide curbside single-stream recycling program early next year. City manager Michael Brown proposed the contract to the Council.
Single-stream recycling allows people to put all of their recyclable materials into one bin, which is picked up and transported to a sorting facility.
Randy Hartman, the environmental management director of Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs, spoke to the Council about the recycling program, and single-stream recycling in particular.
“The importance of single-stream recycling is imperative—it’s more cost-effective initially, and encourages more recycling overall,” said Hartman.
Pratt Industries is obligated through the contract to equip and operate a single-stream recycling facility in Chatham County. As the quantity of local recyclable material grows, Pratt agrees to operate the Chatham facility as a full Material Recovery Facility. Until then, the Chatham facility will minimally process and transfer materials to a separate center in Conyers.
“Savannah was innovative by encouraging the private sector to build a new single-stream processing center in the city,” said Hartman. He explained that Atlanta is, so far, the only city in Georgia to have such a facility, and that many cities send their recyclables to that location.
The contract also establishes that Pratt must accept glass and all paper and plastic types of recycling, despite the wear and tear such recyclables can cause on sorting equipment.
Pratt Industries is America’s seventh-largest paper and packaging company. Pratt’s Web site states that they are “committed to recycling and the environment by ‘harvesting the urban forest’ to produce the industry’s best packaging products.”
City councilman Larry Stuber, who was for the long-term contract, said, “It’s time for us to show leadership and become a green community.”
The initial 20-year contract was denied in favor of a shorter, revised 10-year contract. Pratt offers, in the 10-year contract, $15 per ton of recyclables to the city. The 20-year contract offered a higher rate of $29.50 per ton, the highest offer Hartman had seen in the state.
City councilman Jeff Felser, who was against the long-term contract, believed the 10-year revision is more prudent with taxpayer’s money
The approved contract stipulates that the city is obligated to operate the curbside recycling program for the first five years of the contract—after that, the city would be allowed to end the program with 90 days notice.
City councilman Tony Thomas asked if Savannah, being a major port city, would have the option of shipping recyclable materials to outside markets such as China. Hartman recognized the idea and possibility of a “glocal” program, although the approved contract states that all recyclables collected by the city must be sent to Pratt.