Sunday, September 07, 2008

Kelowna to award contract for new garbage carts

Kelowna Courier:
Carts to be used in the Central Okanagan‘s new automated garbage pick-up service will be delivered to homeowners beginning in mid-January. Kelowna city council will be asked Monday to award a $7.2 million contract to IPL Inc., a Quebec-based plastics firm, for the provision of 157,000 garbage, recycling and yard waste carts. The company submitted the lowest bid of three that were evaluated, city staff say. “IPL was founded in 1939 and is a publicly traded company with very strong financials, sound references, and excellent sustainability and environmental policies,” reads part of a report by solid waste manager Mark Watt. The garbage and yard waste carts have a capacity of 240 litres, while the recyclable ones hold 125 litres. In the automated collection system, truck operators stay inside their vehicle and use a hydraulic arm to raise the carts and empty them into the back.

The average homeowner now pays about $140 a year in taxes for garbage pickup. Once the new automated service is introduced next spring, the charge will drop to $125, and may even be less if a grant application is approved. Among the automated systems claimed advantages: contractors will find it easier to find staff, since workers won‘t have to lift heavy loads of garbage; with more yard waste pick-ups at the curbside, people will have to drive less frequently to the landfill; the expensive operation of opening plastic bags filled with yard waste will no longer be required.
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Don Quixote Note: Vernon's residential rate are: ($98.92 per year)

Contract Term: Jan 1, 2009 – Dec 31, 2011 Up for Tender Closing Monday, September 29, 2008
  • Garbage:
    • $19.23 per quarter
  • Recycling:
    • $5.50 per quarter

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