ACCC grants interim authorisation to councils for joint waste tenders

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last week granted interim authorisation for joint waste tenders to four councils in Sydney, and separately to three councils in Tasmania.

Sydney’s Bankstown City Council, Fairfield City Council, Parramatta City Council and Liverpool City Council received interim authorisation to commence a joint tender for household clean-up waste. This includes bulky items that are not collected through the weekly waste collection, such as mattresses and whitegoods.

Tasmania’s Glenorchy City Council, Hobart City Council and Clarence City Council will meanwhile commence a joint tender for the processing of kerbside/roadside recyclable materials from households.

In both cases, the ACCC has also issued draft determinations for public comment proposing to allow the councils to enter into contracts following the conclusion of the collective tender process.

“A combined tender process is likely to be more efficient than each council individually conducting a separate tender as it will result in some cost savings.” ACCC Commissioner Dr Jill Walker said.

“If the councils combine their volumes of waste, it could also provide incentives for providers to compete more vigorously to win the tender.”

The ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. The ACCC may grant interim authorisation where it considers it appropriate to allow the parties to engage in conduct while the ACCC is considering the substantive merits of the application.

The Sydney councils have applied for authorisation for six years, whereas the Tasmanian councils have applied for nine.