WINNIPEG — A growing number of city councillors are asking the Water and Waste Committee to hit the pause button before awarding new contracts to two private waste management companies.
Winnipeg’s current waste management company is Emterra and Progressive Waste Solutions. Last week the waste department revealed Emterra’s bid was not successful and its term with the city will expire next fall.
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Waste management officials have instead recommended two separate companies handle garbage pickup: Miller Waste to handle the northwest neighbourhoods of the city and GFL for the southwest.
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Both proposed contracts would run from Oct.1, 2017 until Jan.31, 2025.
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It is not yet known if this will result in higher collection costs for Winnipeggers in 2017 but the cost of the service is more.
Currently Winnipeg spends about $18 million per year on garbage collection. Under the new proposed plan, those costs would jump to $24.8 million per year.
Wyatt, who said he considers waste disposal as a “core service” provided by municipalities, thinks the city should look into other possibilities and timelines for the new companies involved.
Water and Waste Committee Chair Brian Mayes however said delaying a decision would re-create “the gong show” that Emterra faced.
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