Methanex New Zealand has had 12 people working since last February dismantling the GTG plant, which hasn't been used for six years, and the first shipload of scrap metal left Port Taranaki on Wednesday night bound for South Korea.
Methanex NZ managing director Harvey Weake said nine trucks worked non-stop for three days transporting 4000 tonnes of scrap metal to nearby Port Taranaki for the 16,582-tonne Amber Wave to load.
It just happened that most of the steel for the synthetic petrol plant had come from South Korea about 20 years ago, so it was nice to be recycling it back to its country of origin, said Weake.
Another 4000 tonnes of scrap is due to be shipped to South Korea by next June.
