Besides the beneficial use of dredged material, sustainable relocation, which means keeping the sediments in the natural aquatic material circulation, is one goal for handling dredged material in the port of Hamburg. Decreasing contamination the River Elbe and new dredged material guidelines provide a basis for this. With comprehensive investigations, near- and far-field transport and the effects of relocation regarding the water quality and the benthic community were determined thus deveoloping conditions for future operating strategies.