The ACCC has granted interim authorisation to enable the City of Hobart Council, and 11 other participating councils in southern Tasmania, to progress a collective tender process for recycling waste processing services, including acceptance and sorting. The City of Hobart Council is joined in the tender process by Clarence City Council, Glenorchy City Council, Kingborough Council, Glamorgan Spring Bay Council, Tasman Council, Brighton Council, Huon Valley Council, Central Highlands Council, Southern Midlands Council, Sorrell Council, and Derwent Valley Council.
The interim authorisation will enable the participating councils to progress the collective tender process, including negotiating with and choosing tenderers, and preparing contracts.
The City of Hobart Council and the 11 other participating councils currently maintain recycling waste processing contracts with Cleanaway, who operates the sole processing facility in southern Tasmania. Several of these contracts are due to expire in December 2021.
Authorisation is sought because the councils may be in competition with each other to acquire recycling waste processing services and therefore jointly tendering for these services gives rise to a risk that they will breach competition laws.
The ACCC considers it appropriate to grant interim authorisation while it considers the City of Hobart Council’s application for authorisation, noting that interim authorisation does not extend to entering into any contracts that result from the tender process.
The ACCC expects to issue a draft determination in December 2021. Further information about the ACCC’s interim authorisation and the City of Hobart Council’s application for authorisation is available on the ACCC’s public register at City of Hobart Council & Ors