City delays $112-M deal to process recyclable material
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/04/2018 (2772 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A City of Winnipeg committee has postponed a decision on a 10-year, $112.6-million contract to process and market recyclable materials.
Councillors on the environment committee were considering an administrative report to award the contract to Canada Fibers, a Toronto-based company that claims it handles 60 per cent of Ontario’s blue box recycling via similar municipal contracts, including Toronto, Hamilton, the Regional Municipality of Peel and Sudbury.
Emterra Environmental, which recently lost Winnipeg’s waste and recycling pick-up contract to two other competitors, is currently doing the processing and marketing work.
An administrative report said five firms, including Emterra, bid on the contract, but Canada Fibers was rated the highest — and put in the lowest bid.
However, Couns. Janice Lukes and Jason Schreyer said they wanted more time to study the administrative report and recycling issues before voting on the contract.
The committee voted unanimously to hold a special meeting April 16 and councillors expect to meet with the city’s water and waste department in a closed-door session before that for a briefing.
The contract requires the winning bidder to build a processing facility somewhere within city limits and have the plant operational by Oct. 1, 2019.
Randy Park, the city’s acting manager of solid waste, said the cost of the contract is based on the winning firm handling 65,000 tonnes of recyclable materials annually, with an annual inflationary cost adjustment of up to a maximum of five per cent.
During the meeting, an Emterra representative questioned the fairness of the bid process, alleging the request for proposals was amended several times and the evaluation matrix altered to its disadvantage.
Paulina Leung, Emterra vice-president of corporate strategy and business development, requested the committee to reject the administration recommendation to award the contract to Canada Fibers and to reissue the RFP.
Leung said the administration had removed provisions from the contract that would have penalized the winning bidder if the plant isn’t ready by Oct. 1, 2019.
She also said changes to the RFP allow the winner to produce recyclable paper products to a quality below industry standards, which will eventually limit chances to find markets for the product.
Park said he was satisfied Canada Fibers had put in the best bid, adding no other competitor had raised similar concerns with the RFP process.
aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca