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Help Save Glass Recycling in Savannah, Georgia!

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My name is Malena and I am the sole owner/operator of a local business called Lammergeier aka Savannah Glass Recycling. After a whirlwind of unexpected events, I am calling on the public to help save closed-loop glass recycling for our community.



Here is my story:

I have lived in Savannah for almost a decade and always just assumed that putting an accepted item in a curbside recycling bin meant that it would be recycled. It wasn’t until I started looking for a place to recycle a large glass bottle collection that I realized just how wrong I had been.

Since 2008, not one glass item put in a city curbside recycling bin has actually been recycled. Glass is "accepted", but it gets sorted for private landfill instead.


In 2020 at the early stages of what became a worldwide pandemic, I converted my frustration into fuel and started a curbside glass recycling service focused on a solution.


The goal was always to work with the city. I've had conversations with representatives and staff detailing how this model can reduce contamination, save on disposal costs and generate new revenue to fund future sustainable initiatives. My business has been discussed in multiple council meetings. The beginning stages were all about developing the idea to prove the concept. Then Savannah could bring the solution to scale.

So in late 2022 when the city council unexpectedly voted to outsource for a glass recycling drop-off program, I was blindsided.

What happened to “Savannah First”?
What happened to equal opportunity?

In one minute, by majority vote, my local, woman-owned business was ousted without even having a chance to be heard.

January 2023, the new city program started; my thriving operation flat-lined. 80% of our recyclers canceled their service. The local small business that I built from the straps of my boots was faced with an unbeatable government competitor who used tax dollars to provide the same service for free. Exception being: with the drop-off option, glass was no longer kept in Georgia to fuel our economy and offset environmental damage, but instead sent out of state where it would be used to generate profits for big business.

An opportunity for the city to truly support a local, woman-owned business was dismissed and destroyed.

But I refused to give up. The recyclers that continued to believe in my vision are why I have persevered. No matter the odds, I kept going.

July 2023:

In order to stay afloat, I scaled down to one facility. The last of my dwindling supply had to be moved by hand. It was a temporary Hail Mary solution just to hang on.

I loaded & unloaded millions of bottles/jars by hand, making numerous trips back & forth.
It was brutal. But I made it!

…little did I know that was only the beginning

Late July 2023- The blisters on my fingers hadn’t begun to heal when I looked out the window to find 2 men in what appeared to be plain clothes (except 1 with a gun on his hip) walking to the back of the storage area. I ran outside not really sure what was happening and they immediately began asking questions. Still uncertain as to who exactly they were, just that they were some type of city officials, I explained that I have a lease for commercial/industrial storage. I detailed the Savannah situation and that this was just a temporary move until I could figure out what to do next.
I was then told to remove every single glass item on site and it had to be done in 7 days "or else" !


I was panicked, sleep deprived and alone. How on Earth was I going to make this happen??

August 2023- A city official returned a week later and issued multiple violations. I was told to appear in court 3 weeks later. But first: "all of the material better be gone before then." otherwise Garden City would be forced to come in and seize all of the material, landfill it and I would foot the 6-figure bill.

My heart sunk.

At that moment, when my world was crumbling down around me, I had two choices. Sink or swim.

Surely I wasn't going to let the government landfill everything that our recyclers helped me to save. So I did what any person would do. I figured it out. It took me 2 weeks to find a larger recycling company to take all of the glass at once, coordinate freight carriers, rent heavy equipment and hire staff for overtime.

1 week before the deadline...



Somehow, by the sheer grace of a higher power, I made it.


What ensued over the following 7 months was something out of a movie. Numerous court appearances, each time with a new reason why I couldn't move forward. Each month, still having to pay for a facility that couldn't be used.

February 2024--Finally, the city gave me permission to move forward. But only if I started an entirely new business that had nothing to do with glass recycling.

So, I made a new plan.

March 2024- I have managed to hang onto this self-started glass recycling operation by the skin of my teeth and began the painstaking process of trying to rebuild. I wasn't sure if it was even going to be possible after 2 catastrophic events in less than a year, but what kind of entrepreneur would I be if I didn't at least try?

Little did I know, on the opposite side of the spectrum, the city glass recycling program and partnership was crumbling and ultimately has been shut down completely with zero notice to the community.

It's as though the universe saw my fading spirit and found a way for me to restart glass recycling in our community!

April 2024- New, New plan! I reorganized myself, greased up the dump truck for one heck of a push and started full steam ahead with a new glass recycling initiative.

A few weeks later the truck broke down. Transmission.

After everything that I have managed to make it through, the excruciating hours and labor, all of the constant discrimination and patronizing insults, the inequality and injustices, I'm still here ready and willing to do whatever it takes to save glass recycling for our community,

But I can no longer do this on my own.

I am asking for your help as a neighbor, a friend, a resident or fellow business owner:

My glass truck needs a new transmission and power steering pump which is estimated to cost $5000.

The cost to store large volumes of glass for recycling is $7,000.



If we can get past this hurdle, glass recycling for the masses of Savannah CAN continue!! We can still make a difference for our environment and I would love nothing more than to be able to do this. and your support will help us to make it happen!

Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Malena A. Gauss
Owner

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Donations 

  • Patricia P. Bray
    • $25
    • 6 mos
  • Anonymous
    • $200
    • 1 yr
  • Laurie Tanner
    • $100
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 1 yr
  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 1 yr
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Organizer

Malena Gauss
Organizer
Savannah, GA

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