City council picks new firm for $112M curbside recycling contract

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2018 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Councillors turned aside concerns about hidden costs within a long-term contract for processing and marketing the recycling material collected in the curbside blue cart program and awarded the deal to a Toronto firm.

Canada Fibers was given the 10-year, $112.6 million contract over four other firms, including the current operator Emterra Environmental.

The terms of the contract require Canada Fibers to construct a state-of-the-art processing plant, capable of handling up to 65,000 tonnes, somewhere within city limits and have it operational by Oct. 1, 2019, when the current contract with Emterra expires.

The administration had recommended Canada Fibers, stating its bid had been judged the best of the five firms seeking the contract and it had submitted the lowest bid.

Council’s vote was preceded by a presentation from Emterra’s Paulina Leung, who repeated concerns she made twice before at the committee level that the contract will allow Canada Fibers to come back with additional costs in the future as it struggles to meet low product contamination levels demanded by buyers, most of them in China, of the processed recyclables.

But Coun. Brian Mayes, chairman of the environment committee, said he was satisfied with the administration’s assurances that the contract with Canada Fibers cannot be re-opened simply because the firm is incurring additional costs to meet international standards.

Council also approved a recommendation from the environment committee to direct the administration to review the fair wage policies of other municipalities, as a prelude to study to determine if city hall should impose similar conditions on contractors bidding on civic work.

The fair wage initiative had been prompted by a presentation from the city’s largest union, CUPE 500.

Meanwhile, Canada Fibers spokesman Mark Badger said the company has narrowed the selection of the site for the new plant to two locations, adding he expects a decision will be made soon.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca