Dive Brief:

• A ruling issued by an appellate court has removed Waste Management as the operator of the Central Jersey Waste & Recycling transfer station in Ewing, NJ. 
• The remainder of the contract, covering Mercer County, NJ, will instead be awarded to Republic Services of New Jersey, whose initial bid for waste services and the operation of the transfer station had been rejected in 2012. 
• The Mercer County Improvement Authority (MCIA) rejected the Republic Services bid after the hauler’s lawyer submitted a letter detailing the enforcement of the contract (as opposed to the usual form). The appeals court ruled that, although different, the letter actually offered a greater assurance that the contract would be executed. 

Dive Insight:

Both Republic Services’ and Waste Management’s bids were initially rejected by MCIA. The reasoning behind Waste Management’s rejection was a failure to fully disclose its ownership.

MCIA later called for proposals once again; and this time, Waste Management, with full knowledge of Republic’s bid, submitted a lower proposal, thereby creating its own “opportunity for, or at least the appearance of, favoritism or corruption,” according to court documents.