Green Island Landfill contract changes

Dunedin (Thursday, 30 March 2017) – The awarding of a new multi-million dollar solid waste contract will bring a wide range of benefits for Dunedin residents.

Dunedin City Council Acting General Manager Infrastructure and Networks Richard Saunders says, “This new contract will deliver a great service and a high level of expertise.”

Waste Management Limited has been identified as preferred supplier for the contract to run the Green Island Landfill and transfer station. The contract, which is subject to final negotiations, will start on 1 July. The contract has a value of about $20.6 million over an eight year period. This saves ratepayers more than $500,000 over the term of the contract.

There was a competitive procurement process for the new contract, with four tenders received. The tenders were evaluated on quality of service as well as price.

The DCC currently has a single contract that delivers a wide range of solid waste services. This contract, held by Delta, has been in place since 2003. From 1 July, those same services will be provided through three separate contracts.

The first of these to be decided is the contract to run the Green Island Landfill and transfer station. The other two contracts are an environmental monitoring and reporting contract and a contract centred on running rural transfer stations. These will be decided in April.

The collection of kerbside rubbish and recycling is not covered by the three new contracts. The current kerbside collection contract will be reviewed in 2018/19.

In terms of the Green Island Landfill contract, Mr Saunders says, ”Waste Management is a specialist in this field and the largest provider of waste services in New Zealand. Dunedin will benefit from the technical expertise and resources that can be accessed through their wider network.”

The DCC will work with Waste Management to see if there are opportunities for some Delta landfill staff to be redeployed.

Waste Management will have more staff on site at the Green Island transfer station to help customers unload, manage health and safety issues and increase the amount of material that can be recycled or re-used.

Waste Management’s Fairfield landfill was due to close this year. It could now close by 1 July, with staff and mobile plant and equipment moving to Green Island for the start of the new contract.

Mr Saunders says combining the waste from the two landfills provides an opportunity to increase waste diversion.

“We are still strategically focused on waste minimisation and waste diversion.”

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