The city of Detroit has chosen Advanced Disposal Services (ADS) and Rizzo Environmental Services as the winning bidders to handle the collection of the city’s recyclables. The contract includes biweekly bulk collections.
The city says it expects the move to save it nearly $6 million per year. The total cost for the five-year contracts are expected to be between $23 and $35 million per year.
The city presently is in negotiations with the two companies on the details of the arrangements. ADS, headquartered in Point Vedra, Fla., has locations throughout the eastern half of the country. Rizzo, headquartered in Sterling Heights, Mich., services residents throughout southeastern Michigan.
“With this contract the city is saving millions and improving services at the same time; this is a win-win for everyone,” says Detroit CEO Gary Brown, who led the committee that reviewed the bid proposals. “Our review process was extremely thorough and competitive. We let the facts drive our decision, and, in the end, the committee concluded that the residents of Detroit are better served by turning over trash collection to private contractors better equipped to provide improved and expanded service.”
Final details of the contract must still be negotiated with the winning bidders, Brown says. General provisions of the contract include:
The city says it expects the move to save it nearly $6 million per year. The total cost for the five-year contracts are expected to be between $23 and $35 million per year.
The city presently is in negotiations with the two companies on the details of the arrangements. ADS, headquartered in Point Vedra, Fla., has locations throughout the eastern half of the country. Rizzo, headquartered in Sterling Heights, Mich., services residents throughout southeastern Michigan.
“With this contract the city is saving millions and improving services at the same time; this is a win-win for everyone,” says Detroit CEO Gary Brown, who led the committee that reviewed the bid proposals. “Our review process was extremely thorough and competitive. We let the facts drive our decision, and, in the end, the committee concluded that the residents of Detroit are better served by turning over trash collection to private contractors better equipped to provide improved and expanded service.”
Final details of the contract must still be negotiated with the winning bidders, Brown says. General provisions of the contract include:
- Weekly residential trash collection before 5 p.m.;
- Citywide single-stream curbside recycling service, which is currently not provided to residents;
- Biweekly bulk trash collection (currently bulk trash is picked up once a quarter);
- A new, fuel-efficient fleet of collection trucks to be on the road beginning on day-one of the contract; and,
- Job offers from ADS and Rizzo for qualified current city employees whose jobs will be eliminated.
Additionally, once the transition to ADS and Rizzo is complete, the city plans to sell its fleet of garbage trucks and use the proceeds to fund an effort to clean up some of the worst cases of illegal dumping activity in Detroit’s neighborhoods and school areas.
The committee used a 100-point sourcing process to evaluate bidders based upon innovation, capacity to provide services, experience on similar projects and cost to provide basic service. This process narrowed seven original bidders down to three finalists. From there, best-and-final negotiations were held and two winners selected.
Joe Munem, director of government affairs for Rizzo, says he expects the contracts to be signed by the ends of this year. When the program begins, Rizzo will handle 100,000 additional households; the company presently provides service to 270,000 households in Michigan.