CBRM considering contracting out garbage, recycling services
25-year contract could be worth $100 million, official says
One Cape Breton regional councillor says now is the time to consider alternatives to municipal waste management.
The CBRM's landfill site in Sydney is expected to reach capacity within the next seven years and its contract for hauling garbage to Guysborough County expires in 2025.
In addition, new regulations are coming on the disposal of construction and demolition materials and on extended producer responsibility, which puts the cost of recycling on manufacturers.
"As those regulations evolve — and we haven't really seen what those regulations will look like definitively — it just might not be most cost-effective or most logical for the municipality to sort of be the middle man if we can cut ourselves out and inevitably save some money, as well," said Coun. Cyril MacDonald, who represents CBRM on a provincial solid waste management committee.
This week, CBRM issued a request for prequalification looking for companies interested in taking over management of the municipality's solid waste, construction and demolition disposal, recycling and biosolids.
It's offering the possibility of a 25-year contract, with options to extend for up to two additional five-year terms.
MacDonald said municipalities across Canada are increasingly contracting out such services, and communities in Nova Scotia will likely embrace the trend more widely.
"With some of the new regulations that are coming forward, we've seen in other jurisdictions where some municipalities have opted to contract out all that service. So I don't know if we're quite there yet, but I dare say we will be in the near future," he said.
It makes sense to start looking for new ways of handling waste now, MacDonald said.
"We may find somebody that's interested and able and may give us some leeway on a proper transition from where we stand today and where we could be in a couple of years," he said.
The municipality owns some garbage trucks, which are operated by unionized staff, but some routes are already covered by private contractors. It also owns a recycling facility in the Sydport Industrial Park, but contracts out operations there.
Solid waste manager Francis Campbell said fully contracting out municipal waste services is one option under the request for prequalification, but it also asks companies about the possibility of expanding the existing landfill or building a new one.
Waste management costs CBRM up to $5 million a year, so a 25-year contract could mean a $100-million deal with a private operator, he said.
But with new regulations coming, the municipality's future costs are uncertain, Francis said.
"Although we are now paying quite a bit of money, it is what the market demands and we're hoping that possibly someone may be able to come forward with a better option that will save us even more money.
"The goal at this point in time is to see if there's anyone out there who has ideas that we're interested in, has the financial wherewithal to carry out these deals and to make sure that they have experience and history in dealing with waste management."
MacDonald said the municipality would still likely need some waste management staff under any deal.
"Even if we decided to contract some of this stuff out, I feel there would always be a solid waste department within CBRM," he said.
"The work they do day to day may differ a little bit, but I would forecast or presume that there should be very little impact from what we see today."
According to CBRM's request for prequalification, companies wishing to manage the solid waste have to reply by the end of July.
It says council may approve prequalified bidders by the end of September and a contract might be awarded by July or August 2024.
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