Robyn Edie/Stuff
A section of the council candidates raise their hands after being asked, at the Invercargill Youth Council candidates event, who would support Recycle South employees (formerly known as Southland DisAbility Enterprises) keep their recycling jobs.
A recycling contract that hovered prominently over the 2019 Invercargill council election has resurfaced three years on, in time for the 2022 election debate.
There was public angst in 2019 after WasteNet recommended that a contract to sort Southland’s recycling be given to Smart Environmental, instead of existing contractor Southland DisAbility Enterprises [SDE]. SDE has since been rebranded “Recycle South”.
The Invercargill council, through Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt’s casting vote, voted down WasteNet’s recommendation, effectively siding with Recycle South. Recycle South provides disabled people with supervised employment.
At a council election candidate event on September 7 a sister of one of the disabled workers asked which candidates supported helping keep those people in work at Recycle South.
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Every candidate raised their hand. Although that prompted current deputy mayor Nobby Clark to address the crowd saying not to be fooled by some of the raised hands.
Clark, who is running for the mayoralty, has made the recycling contract, and in turn the disabled workers’ employment, one of his key campaign priorities.
When approached after the candidate meeting, Clark pointed to a December 2021 public excluded council meeting as to the reason he was so nervous about the contract situation.
In September 2021, the council voted to extend Recycle South’s existing contract for up to 36 months. As part of the resolution, Recycle South would also have the right of renewal up to June 2027, to align with the kerbside contract which expires in June 2027.
However, at the December 2021 public excluded meeting that followed, the council was advised by finance staff that the contract actually could not be extended beyond 2023 because of its procurement policy.
Clark was the sole councillor to vote against the motion. He said he wanted certainty that Recycle South held the contract through to at least June 2027.
Council’s procurement policy limited contracts to three-year periods. It also allows for $250,000 of social good to be factored in through the tender process.
Clark said if the council had to breach its own procurement policy around the recycling contract, then so be it.
“We are not putting these jobs at risk, I don’t care what your procurement policy suggests. Policies are only guidelines.”
Clarks said if he was elected mayor, and had support with him around the table, they would ask that council staff don’t bring a paper forward in 2023 with a suggestion of going to the marketplace.
If staff are uncomfortable with that Clark said he would put up another notice of motion to extend the Recycle South contract, which expires in 2023, out to 2027.
Fellow Invercargill mayoral candidate Toni Biddle was on council in 2019 and voted against WasteNet’s recommendation to go with a new recycling provider.
Biddle believed the added cost of the contract was worth it to help keep those workers employed.
In principle, Biddle, if elected as mayor, would like to ensure those disability workers remained in employment.
Although Biddle added she needed to keep an open mind to ensure she could vote on the matter and there wasn’t any suggestion she had a predetermined decision before any vote.
