Etobicoke garbage pick-up moving to a new company: Miller Waste Systems
Problems with GFL’s aging equipment and other issues prompted a decison to re-tender the Etobicoke garbage collection contract.

TheStar.com
June 11, 2014
Paul Moloney

Toronto is switching to a new contractor to pick up garbage in Etobicoke after problems emerged with GFL Environmental, the company that has been doing the work since December 2011.

Staff have recommended that Miller Waste Systems get the contract to collect garbage from 65,400 Etobicoke households for up to eight years beginning July 2015, at a cost to the city of $88.6 million.

Miller, which already has a contract with the city to collect from apartment buildings, has “a good record,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of council’s public works and infrastructure committee.

GFL was doing garbage pickup in Etobicoke before it began a broader contract to cover all of the western side of the city, from Yonge St. to the Humber River, fulfilling Mayor Rob Ford’s pledge to contract-out more work previously done by city employees.

Earlier this year, the provincial government downgraded GFL’s safety rating to “conditional” from “satisfactory” after a spate of vehicle incidents when GFL first started collecting west to Yonge St.

City staff said the downgrade stemmed from problems in 2012, when drivers were learning new routes.

In the end, GFL didn’t bid on the new Etobicoke contract.

The city said bidders must have a satisfactory Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration, something GFL doesn’t currently possess.

But GFL president Patrick Dovigi said the company didn’t bid because the city is switching to automated green-bin pickup and also because GFL didn’t like some other terms imposed by the city.

Toronto had the option to renew GFL’s contract for up to two years, to mid-2017, but chose instead to re-tender. Miller was the lowest of four compliant bidders.

In response to questions from Councillor Mike Layton, solid waste staff said GFL was not being renewed because the city is moving to larger green bins with automated pickup in the fall of 2015.

GFL would have had to purchase new automated trucks, which is not financially feasible, the city said. Also, complaints have increased recently, mostly due to aging equipment that has resulted in more breakdowns and later pickup times.

Finally, the new contract will include collection of bulky items such as furniture and mattresses, and there are new provisions to respond to customer service requests.

Minnan-Wong said that when GFL regains a satisfactory commercial vehicle operating rating, the company will be able to bid on other Toronto work. “I’m hopeful that GFL will be able to bid on Districts 3 and 4 (east of Yonge St.) when we contract them out, hopefully next term,” he said.

Collection east of Yonge is still handled by city workers. Ford has vowed to contract-out garbage pickup throughout the city.

The decision to tender a new contract was within staff’s discretion, said Councillor Gord Perks (Ward 14, Parkdale-High Park), who favours giving the job to city forces.

“If it (re-tendering) had come to council, I would have opposed it,” Perks said. “As the residents of my ward have learned over the last couple of years, privately delivered garbage service is inferior.”

Etobicoke pick-up had been handled by Turtle Island Recycling Corp. from July 1, 2008, until December 2011, when its operations were taken over by GFL.