It is estimated that the value of council waste contracts in NSW currently exceeds $1.7 billion annually.

Waste contracts are some of local governments’ largest value contracts, for household waste services provided to millions of residents throughout Western Sydney by our councils.

For that reason, on 23 June WSROC ran a special Contestability Training in Waste Contracts workshop at Parramatta for council staff involved in the preparation of waste services contracts.

The training was developed by WSROC in partnership with Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) to assist councils better understand the part played by ‘contestability frameworks’ in procurement and purchasing processes and to apply these to waste contracts.

Contestability frameworks aim to promote competition between contractors and determine the most efficient way of designing and delivering council policies, programs and services.

Councils are always looking for new and improved ways to procure and provide services to their communities, including those that reduce waste and improve the cost of the service for their residents.

The Contestability Training in Waste Contracts training session at Parramatta was attended by waste, cleansing and procurement staff from Blacktown, Cumberland, Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, The Hills and Parramatta City Councils, and joined by professional officers from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and WSROC.

The skills developed in the training workshops will help council staff better understand waste and recycling regulations and markets which affect contracts and improve approaches to procurement of waste contracts, delivering better services for their communities.

WSROC is currently working with the NSW EPA to make the training resources available to councils throughout NSW.