Winnipeg recycling firm forces city to delay marketing contract for Ontario-based company

The company that currently sorts and marketsrecycled materials in Winnipegwants the city to tidyup its bidding process after it was passed over for a contract extension.

On Thursday, the city's water and waste committee was scheduled to vote on whether to award a $9-million-per-year, 10-year-long municipal recycling contract to Ontario-based Canada Fibers. The contract would last from October 2019 toJuly 31, 2029, with the possibility of a five-year extension.

In January Emterra told the city it would need an additional $1.5 million over the next two years to continue shipping materials to China, which recently banned 24 types of solid waste from the country.

"That concern was raised byEmterraand then there was a lot of back and forth with how that issue had been dealt with in the competition," saidSt. VitalCoun. BrianMayes, chair of the city water and waste committee.

The city first issued a request for proposals last November and received bids from five companies, includingRicova International,Cascades Recovery,Emterra, Miller Waste Systems and Canada Fibers. It changed the criteria on Jan. 17, 2018and the competition closed Jan. 25, 2018.

The issue here is not we feelEmterrahasn't done a good job on the sorting stuff, we're not saying that.- Brian Mayes

CanadaFibersput forward the lowest bid to take oversorting, marketing and shippingof recycled materials for the city in January, edging outEmterra, whose own contract with the city expires September 2019.

Mayes said staff recommendedCanada Fibers not only based on its low bid, but also because of itsexperience in the field, its proposed location of a local processing plant, and the company's openness to renegotiate contract details should priorities change at the city.

If, for instance, the city wanted to start recycling cellophane or plastic bags, Mayes says Canad Fibers has the capacity to process those materialsand has expressed a willingness to accommodate such a change.

"The issue here is not we feel Emterra hasn't done a good job on the sorting stuff, we're not saying that," Mayes said.

Mayes said construction projects at the city often move slower than expected andCoun. Janice Lukesasked the question of whether Canada Fibers would be able to build a new processing facility by October 2019. But Mayes said Canada Fibersprovided contingency plans that would account for such a scenario.

A representative withCUPE Local 500, the union that represents Emterra workers,also raised concerns at the meeting aboutCanada Fibers'past violation of fair wage policyin Toronto that mandated the company pay employees a minimum amount. Mayes said that complaint involved some temp agencies in Toronto.

MayessaidCUPE'sconcern was over the fact that its unionizedEmterraworkers have had their wages raised,and that CanadaFiberscould bring back minimum wage again should it take over. It isnot a condition of the contract that Canada Fibershire Emterra's workforce should it take over, Mayes said.

Winnipeg doesn't have a fair wagepolicy on the books, and Mayessaidhe wantscommittee members to look into what that would entail in the coming days.

The water and waste committee is expected to reconvene April 16 to possibly hold a vote. If passed, the contract would still be required to gain approval from city council and Mayor Brian Bowman's inner circle.

CBC News' calls to Emterra and CUPELocal 500 for comment were not returned.