The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued decisions authorising* two groups of Sydney councils to collectively tender for the provision of waste management services, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
A group of councils in the Macarthur region of Sydney has sought authorisation to collectively tender for contractors to receive and dispose of their ratepayers' kerbside collected waste.
Another group of councils in the Northern region of Sydney has sought authorisation to collectively tender for contractors to receive and dispose of light commercial and domestic waste only.
"The ACCC considers that any anti-competitive detriment that may follow from the proposed collective tendering arrangements is likely to be minimal.
"The ACCC sees benefits in allowing the councils to collectively tender with waste management providers", Mr Samuel said. "The ACCC considers that a coordinated approach to the councils' waste management services is likely to result in service efficiencies which may in turn result in lower domestic waste management charges to ratepayers.
"In addition, in the case of the councils in the Northern region of Sydney, where competition for the provision of the services the subject of the collective tendering arrangements are currently limited, the arrangements are likely to provide an incentive for new providers to compete to supply these services to the councils".
The ACCC also considers that the proposed collective tenders may produce environmental benefits by providing incentives for the development of alternative waste technologies to the current reliance on landfill for waste disposal more immediately than may have otherwise been the case and, in the case of the Macarthur region contracts, an increase in the amount of materials recycled.
The ACCC notes concerns raised by interested parties that the arrangements may lock the participating councils’ waste into landfill arrangements for an extended period. The ACCC expects that the Councils will act in accordance with their commitment to the NSW Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy and take into consideration waste management techniques which will provide outcomes in line with that Strategy when evaluating and selecting tenders.