The new Barcelona cleaning contract falls to FCC, Sorigué, Sacyr and Urbaser

The Barcelona City Council is facing the final stretch of the awarding of the new cleaning and waste collection contract, the most important in the city. This contract has a duration of eight years, extendable for two more years, and a value of more than 2,300 million euros, a figure that represents 10% of the municipal budget. The winning companies have been Corporación CLD (from the Catalan group Sorigué), Valoriza Servicios Medioambientales (a subsidiary of Sacyr), Urbaser and FCC Medioambiente, which managed the service in the previous contract and was sanctioned in 2017.

The big novelty of the tender from a business point of view is the awarding of one of the four lots to Sacyr, a company that until now did not provide this service in Barcelona. FCC ---the historical contractor of the service---, Urbaser and CLD were already part of the contract that is now ending. The big loser of the tender is Ferrovial, one of the companies that operated until now in the city and that has not managed to be awarded any zone. The groups Acciona, OHL, Romero Polo, Rubau and Ascan had also submitted bids and have been left out.

The awarding of the contract is expected to be brought to the municipal plenary session in March. If approved, nine months will have to be added for the deployment of the collection system and the manufacture of containers and vehicles, with the forecast of launching the new service at the beginning of 2022. These will be the deadlines if no company challenges the contract.

Among the novelties that the contract will incorporate, the introduction of smart containers and the deployment of the door-to-door collection system stands out, with the aim of encouraging selective collection, which has not exceeded 40% in the city for years. According to the Councilor for Ecological Transition and Climate Emergency, Eloi Badia, the door-to-door collection system is expected to reach the entire city by 2025. This 2021 it will be deployed in Sant Andreu del Palomar, Horta and Sant Antoni, after having already been done in Sarrià. Likewise, the new contract contemplates that the vehicles for collecting garbage will be electric and less noisy.

The contract divides the city into four zones. The company FCC has been awarded the provision of the service in Ciutat Vella, Eixample, and Gràcia. CLD-Sorigué has won the districts of Sants-Montjuïc, Les Corts, and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. For its part, Sacyr will be responsible for Horta-Guinardó and Nou Barris. Finally, Urbaser will manage the cleaning and collection service in Sant Andreu and Sant Martí. The workforce in charge of this task will reach 4,400 direct workers, with 225 new hires.