By Adam Swift
The city council approved a new 10-year contract with WinWaste Innovations for disposal of the city’s solid waste.
Several councilors did raise concerns about the operation of the Saugus WinWaste incinerator facility and the potential of increased ash from the facility being trucked through Revere. Council President Anthony Cogliandro and councilors Angela Guarina-Sawaya and Marc Silvestri voted against the contract. Councilor Juan Pablo Jaramillo was absent from Monday night’s meeting.
“We have a 10-year contract with WinWaste for disposal of our solid waste, and that contract is set to expire on June 30 of this fiscal year,” said city finance director Richard Viscay. “I have been negotiating with WinWaste on a new contract for the past month and a half. What is before you is, I believe, the best and final deal that we could put together with WinWaste.”
The 10-year contract is set for the first five years, and then there are options for years six through 10 which allow both the city and WinWaste to withdraw from the deal.
The current disposal rate for the city is $83.51 per ton, and for FY25, that rate will go up 5.7 percent to $88.25. The contract further calls for four percent increases per year for the next four years of the contract.
“We were able to negotiate some other benefits with regard to yard waste,” said Viscay. “We are currently paying $16 a ton to get rid of that, and they have agreed to take that for free as long as they can use it in their current facility where they can spread it out legally.”
In addition, Viscay said WinWaste has offered a $25,000 per year contribution to the city that he said will likely be used to help fund a city composting program.
Guarino-Sawaya raised the environmental concerns with ash at the Saugus facility and asked if Viscay knew when that plant would be closing.
“I don’t understand why we keep going back and using them when we want them to close down,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “I’m disgusted with them and the toxic ash that is coming through the city. I don’t ever really want to do business with them, to be honest.”
Viscay noted that Capital Waste, the city’s trash collector, is contracted to haul waste to the WinWaste facility. If there was a change to another disposal site, he said the city would then have to open up its contract with Capital because of the additional transportation costs they would likely incur.
Viscay said the city negotiated with WinWaste exclusively, as it is legally able to do, but that he did look at contracts other municipalities have.
“Quite frankly, we believe it to be a pretty good deal regardless of what you think of the business and such,” said Viscay. “We have to take our trash somewhere to get rid of it.”
Viscay added that if the Saugus facility was closed for whatever reason, that WinWaste would have to transport the solid waste to another facility at the same rates as are in the approved contract.
Councilor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto praised the contract as negotiated by Viscay, and said he considers it an unbelievable deal.
“I think he is protecting the taxpayers,” said Zambuto. “I’ve looked over this deal, and it’s better than I thought he could have got.”
Cogliandro said he has the utmost faith in Viscay to get the best deal with WinWaste, but he said he was concerned with WinWaste shipping additional ash out through Revere roads in order to keep below the minimum allowed landfill height in Saugus.
