Buller's next 10-year waste management contract out for tender

Council will go out to market next week to seek proposals from waste management companies interested in delivering kerbside collection and operation of Buller’s waste management facilities for the coming ten years.

The contract will start on 1 July 2025 and end on 30 June 2035. This aligns the contract with the life of the collection vehicles and equipment installed at the facilities.

The tender process will open on Monday 16 September, and will close on Thursday 24 October 2024.

The contract includes:

• Rubbish collection in Zone One: Fortnightly council-facilitated wheelie bin collection service of a single 120-litre bin per household, paid for via Pay-As-You-Throw. Recycling collection in Zone One: Fortnightly rates-funded wheelie bin pick-up of one 240 litre bin per household for paper, cardboard, aluminium and steel cans, and plastics 1, 2 and 5
• Glass collection in Zone One: Fortnightly rates-funded 45-litre glass crate collection and transport to a glass processing facility
• Disposal and transport of Zone One rubbish to a Class A landfill (currently, this is York Valley in Nelson, but other alternatives will be considered).
• Litter bins: Public litter bin emptying in urban areas and disposal of rubbish.
• Transfer station operation:  Including the Resource Recovery Centre (RRC) in Reefton and Westport.
• Operation of the Karamea and Maruia Landfills: This includes managing the rubbish disposal, recycling drop-off and site management in accordance with the resource consents.
• Processing and selling recyclables (materials diverted from kerbside collections and any commercial recyclables dropped off at the facilities), such as, e-waste, and scrap metals.

Zone one covers Westport, the areas from Westport to the Mōkihinui Bridge, Westport to Punakaiki, Westport to Reefton including Blacks Point, and Reefton to Ikamatua.

As part of preparing the tender, council has identified eight potential suppliers that could deliver these services. These companies are operating nationally specialised in waste management.

Group Manager Infrastructure Services Michael Aitken says: “While price is important, a high-quality, experienced waste contractor is key to delivering a reliable, safe, cost-effective, and value-for-money service. Lowest-cost options are not necessarily the best and can ultimately result in a contract with higher operational and maintenance costs where the operator struggles to provide the service at the agreed price.”

After the tender closes, a Tender Evaluation Team (TET) comprised of council staff and independent advisors will evaluate the tender responses in October 2024. This will be followed by contract negotiations with a preferred supplier, scheduled for November 2024.

Mr Aitken outlines: “When evaluating the proposals, the TET will focus heavily on the quality of the proposal, particularly in terms of transportation efficiencies, effective service delivery, a good customer experience, and a collaborative partnership with key stakeholders.”

The contract is estimated to cost council approximately $3 million per annum. Council will fund this using income generated through targeted rates for recycling collection, the pay-as-you-throw charges for rubbish collection, and fees charged at the local transfer stations and landfills.

Mr Aitken explains: “We will have a better understanding of the final costs for the contract once the tender process has closed and all proposals have been evaluated.”

Grey and Westland District Councils are also currently undertaken the procurement of their waste management services. Although these procurements are undertaken separately, there are opportunities to achieve efficiencies by working with the same supplier across the West Coast. Potentially each Council could have a contract with the same supplier to create regional economies of scale. Council prefers a single contract to be awarded to a main contractor, with subcontractors for certain aspects of the waste management contract.

Once council has approved the preferred supplier based on the evaluation report from the TET and   signed a contract in December, council can confirm the rubbish and recycling fees for the various facilities and services in Buller from July 2025 onwards.

The new fees and charges will be notified as part of council’s 9-year plan, effective 1 July 2025. These prices set for 2025/26 are expected to change in future years to reflect changes in costs associated with delivering these services.

The service being tendered is based on the outcome of extensive community engagement that involved two rounds of consultation between August 2023 and May 2024.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:
Community Engagement Team  
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz