AMHERST – Miller Waste will continue handling solid waste for Amherst.
The town awarded the five-year contract to Miller Waste during its regular council session on Monday.
The contract, valued at just over $1.3 million, includes for three-stream collection, yard waste, bi-weekly bulky item pickup and six extra summer organic collections.
Miller Waste, which has the existing solid waste contract, beat out bids from Fero Waste and Recycling Inc. and GFL Environmental Inc.
The proposals were reviewed for price, company experience, proposed equipment, organization and clarity of the proposal and social considerations.
Miller Waste had the lowest bid and scored highest on the evaluation matrix.
Among the changes is a bi-weekly bulky item collection, which is different from the existing contract in which residents have only been able to put bulky items at the curb during the spring cleanup.
Under the new contract, residents can place on bulky item at the curb every two weeks if required.
Making this change will reduce the cost of the contract by $48,000 while the elimination of the Christmas tree pickup will save $14,910. The elimination of the spring construction and demolition pickup will save $78,981.
With tipping fees charged by the Cumberland Joint Services Management Authority expected to rise to $215 per ton for residential waste and to $90 per ton for organics, it’s likely residents will see a small increase in the uniform solid waste charge to $175 per property from $160.
Earlier in the meeting, council approved switching to a dual-stream system for recycling.
The switch was made necessary by the destruction of the recycling facility in Little Forks in 2017 and the need to process recyclables at other locations in the province.
Once the new recycling facility is completed, dual stream is expected to increase efficiency at the sorting site and improve the marketability of sorted recycled materials.
