Moncton to privatize garbage collection, sticks with bag system

Moncton councillors voted to privatize residential garbage collection in the city and stick with bags instead of curbside carts.

Council voted 6-3 to award a five year contract starting in January 2021 to Miller Waste Systems Inc. worth $6,241,677.

The contract covers collection from 23,668 homes and apartment buildings with up to five units.The contract allows the company to set new collection schedules.

Unionized city workers had performed the task, though workplace injuries and vacancies resulted in the city using a hybrid with some collection by a contractor while the municipality considered what to do long-term.

Staff recommended fully privatizing collection, saying it was the cheapest of several options analyzed.

A staff report to council shows that wages and benefits amount to$79,102annually for the members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 51 who collect garbage.

"We have very good staff," Bruce Tait, the city's general manager of operations, said. "Our wages are higher and I don't have a way around that."

Two unionized city employees who collect garbage will be shifted to other jobs with the city.

Keith Hatto, second vice-president of Local 51, said contractors offer pay a few dollars above minimum wage.

"We give people really good, stable jobs that keep them out of the poverty line," Hatto said before the vote. "If you're getting $12/hour, you're not even getting a living wage."

Several years ago, city staff recommended using Fero Waste & Recycling Inc. to collect waste in one of the city's seven collection zones because of workplace injuries with city workers performing the task.

Under the existing system a city worker drives a truck and would get out, toss the bags into the truck, then continue to another pickup point.

Each worker tossed approximately eight to nine tonnes of material from about 650 households per shift, according to figures city staff presented to council several years ago.

A contract with Fero was extended earlier this year to give the city time to consider its options, leading to Monday's vote.

Staff presented a range of options to councillors that included staying with city workers.

Other options includedkeeping the system of garbage bags or curbside carts picked up by automated booms on trucks. Municipalities like Toronto, Calgaryand Yellowknifeuse carts for waste collection.

Tait said switching to carts would cost the city about $4 million to roll out followed byannual costs around $452,000.

Overall, the city's waste collection system will cost $1,848,219 annually, or $78.09 per household.

Collection in Riverview and Dieppe, which also use private collectors, cost $83 to $85.5 per household.

Under the contract awarded Monday, Moncton's spending on collection could require a tax rate increase of 0.4 cents. The city's tax rate this year is $1.6497 per $100 of assessed property value.

Budget talks for 2021 are expected in the coming months.

Councillors voted to have city staff work with Eco360, which runs the landfill, and other municipalities on potential regional changes and options for waste collection in the future, though no specific details were outlined.

Councillors Paul Pellerin, Bryan Butler and Shawn Crossman voted against the motion to award the contract.