Dive Brief:
- Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) and Advanced Disposal have been awarded contracts to collect refuse, bulk waste and recyclables from unincorporated residents in Florida's Polk County, as reported by News Chief.
- FCC will serve about 71,000 households on the county's western side and Advanced will serve 63,000 on its eastern side. The combined annual cost will be $21 million starting in October 2017.
- This marks a transition from the county's contract with Republic Services, which has become the subject of legal threats and settlement negotiations due to compliance disputes. Republic agreed to refrain from bidding as a term of the settlement.
Dive Insight:
After these issues with the current contract, county officials made it clear that they wanted a smooth transition and reliable service. The two companies beat out Waste Management, Waste Pro, WCA and Trash Taxi to secure a deal that will expand on existing growth for both of them in the region.
This is FCC's second contract in Florida — it secured one in Orange County last year — and its fifth in the U.S. The company's other hub is in Texas, where it has contracts in University Park, Houston and Dallas. While this growth has been a priority, it is just part of an operation that handles 53 million customers across 13 counties.
Florida-based Advanced Disposal has also been seeing a trend of expansion with multiple acquisitions and a successful IPO earlier this fall. Part of this strategy has involved continued efforts to strengthen its presence in its home state of Florida, yet the company recently lost out on a new collections contract in the town of Jupiter. Advanced filed a bid protest alleging that Waste Management violated lobbying rules to win a new $25 million contract. While protest was denied on Dec. 14, Advanced is expected to appeal to Palm Beach Circuit Court.
