Dive Brief:
- Waste Management is accusing the Oakland City Council in California of using an unlawful process to determine the outcome of the bids on a new waste hauling contract.
- Council members held an open bid for six months, in which Waste Management was the only bidder for the full service. A small company, California Waste Solutions, bid on the recycling part of the contract, and to pick up trash but not dispose of it.
- In May, 16 months after the bids closed, the council re-opened the bid. The city council then awarded the bid to California Waste Solution, who came in under Waste Management for costs. Waste Management's bid had been made public before the second company entered its bid.
Dive Insight:
Susan Kattchee, the assistant director for the Oakland Public Works Department, said the city is reviewing the situation.
In addition, it doesn't appear that California Waste Service will be capable of handling the waste removal on its own at this time. The company must hire additional personnel, purchase new equipment, build a transfer station and buy more trucks, at a cost of about $80 million.
