Report weighs risk of privatized garbage collection in Calgary
Posted Jan 21, 2019 1:17 pm.
Last Updated Jan 21, 2019 1:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — A city committee will examine a report that recommends against contracting out some curbside waste pickup in Calgary.
The report says while the city would save money, there are too many risks, including poor service and safety concerns.
However, Coun. Joe Magliocca says the city is not trying to privatize waste collection.
“We’re just adding competition,” he said. “That is the main keyword: we are adding competition. Obviously, you know that adding competition, we could bring your tax dollars down. Correct? Am I right or am I wrong?
“We know for a fact that the private sector always does a great service because they are the ones who can be without contract or can be terminated at any time. Their game goes up.”
Magliocca says it’s concerning a private company wasn’t included in the report, which was prepared by consultants with the city’s waste and recycling services department.
READ MORE: Should Calgary adopt pay-as-you-throw garbage collection?
“At the end of the day, if we do a seven-year contract, savings would be a buck a house a month. That adds up to millions and millions of dollars,” he explained.
Coun. Ward Sutherland echoes those sentiments, saying he’s gone through the report in great detail.
“I think there’s actually more savings than the report says,” he stated. “Some of the costing is padded — a simple one is saying that while Calgary is able to get better pricing for the trucks, for example, because they are one of the biggest wastes. That might be in Calgary, but other companies have thousands of employees and their buying power is actually better than Calgary.”
The committee will examine the report Wednesday.
