The annual cost of disposing household hazardous waste in Waterloo region is about to skyrocket if a five year contract is approved this week at a cost of nearly $2.5 million.
Regional staff is recommending council accept a tender from GFL Environmental Services Inc. that would begin April 1 for a five-year term with an option to renew for an additional year.
Under the new contract, the annual cost for the service, which collects household hazardous waste at the landfills in Waterloo and Cambridge, and transports it to a processing site, will be $491,383.76, an amount that is close to double what was budgeted in 2023.
The current contract amounts to an annualized cost of $256,000.
The region's 2023 Waste Management Operating budget allowed for a slight hike in costs to $267,000 annually, but with only two qualifying tenders received in the bidding process, the region doesn't have a lot of options.
The second tender priced the service at $6.8 million for a five year contract.
Only six vendors downloaded the bid document from the region's website and four didn't bother to bid, citing licensing restrictions.
The region says the work is highly specialized and therefore limits the amount of contractors that can bid. Bulk oil and fertilizers are not covered by hazardous special products regulation and the region is responsible for covering the full cost of transport and processing of those items.
The region's municipal hazardous or special waste program offers residents a full service program at its two drop off sites.
The bid price was based on 2022 estimated tonnage, but due to "market conditions and global economic factors" exceeded budget, says the report.
