PSI Elects New Officers,
Hosts Port Official
 
The Paper Stock Industries Chapter elected its next slate of officers for the 2022–2024 term during its virtual PSI Election Meeting, held March 7. The chapter’s newly elected officers—who will take office after the ISRI annual convention in late March—are:
 
President: Shawn State, Pratt Recycling (Conyers, Ga.)
Vice President: Tamara Mayberry, Pioneer Industries International (Itasca, Ill.)
Secretary/Treasurer: Kathy DeLano, Texas Recycling (Dallas)

Shawn State
Tamara Mayberry
Kathy DeLano
The PSI Chapter thanked outgoing PSI President Linda Leone of WestRock for her years of service, giving her special recognition for leading the chapter during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To honor Leone’s leadership, the chapter gave her a plaque with a gavel as well as two gifts—a cashmere scarf and an inflatable raft to use at her family’s lake house. In accepting the gifts, Leone said, “PSI helped form how I did my job and helped me learn how to be fair and balanced. I couldn’t have done it without those of you who are here and those who came before us.”
The PSI Election Meeting also featured a presentation by Heejoo Ramsey (pictured at right), assistant marketing manager-business development for the Port of Long Beach (POLB). The port—which is the No. 1 loaded export port in the U.S.—handled 9.38 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) in 2021, the highest volume in its 110-year history and roughly 16% higher than its previous record volume in 2020, she reported. The port’s import and export volumes (including empties) in January 2022 continued to look strong, beating last year’s January volume by almost 6%.
 
Port congestion continues to be a problem at ports around the world, Ramsey said, though she noted that the POLB has improved its terminal dwell time—the amount of time a container spends within a port. At its worst, in November 2021, about 50% of the containers in the port had a dwell time of greater than five days. As of January 2022, that figure had declined to about 38% of containers.
The POLB has taken other actions to address congestion, including sharing information on its website, activating additional land at the port for storing containers, and extending gate hours to make it easier for trucks to deliver containers. The POLB also plans to introduce by the end of 2022 its new “supply chain information highway,” a digital visibility tool that will help shippers track their containers, Ramsey said.
 
In addition, the port is planning to invest $2.4 billion over the next 10 years on capital improvements, including an on-dock rail project and enhancements in navigation efficiency and safety, she said.


Paper Stock Industries
A National Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
P.O. Box 482, Palm Beach, FL 33480

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