The mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, and the national director of Urban Services of Urbaser, Manuel Martínez, signed yesterday the new contract for the municipal street cleaning and solid waste collection service, valued at 136 million, in an act that took place at the Centro Ciudadano El Tranvía, in La Cuesta. This signature comes after a long administrative journey that even led to the partial cancellation of the tender, which has delayed the entry of the successful bidder and the improvements that the new contract incorporates.
“In 2019, one of the demands that the neighbors sent us the most was the state of cleanliness and maintenance of the municipality, we promised to provide solutions and today we can say that we complied, with the signing of a contract that comes to solve the problem”, the mayor stressed.
“Thanks to this award, we will have more staff, more vehicles, more machinery, more containers and an awareness plan that aims to involve citizens in the separation and collection of organic waste, an important step to adapt to the circular economy, that will generate a benefit in the primary sector”, added the mayor, who highlighted the expansion of the workforce by 10%, thus contributing to job creation.
For his part, Manuel Martínez stated that “for Urbaser it is a day of enormous joy, because its history would not be understood if it is not linked to La Laguna, where we have been for many years, and when we presented the offer to try to renew the contract we did so with an enormous illusion, trying to provide the best possible service. That investment of more than 17 million a year will be noticed by the citizen”.
The contract, which will enter into force on April 1, pointed out the mayor, has been awarded to Urbaser for an amount of 136,226,985 euros and an execution period of eight years, with the possibility of extending another two. It introduces novelties to improve efficiency and sustainability linked to waste management, such as the intention to achieve recycling of 65% of the waste generated in the municipality by 2035, the realization of awareness campaigns for citizens on the separation of waste or the use of efficient vehicles, ensuring that 75% of the machinery is made up of zero emission equipment. Likewise, it incorporates 41 new vehicles to the service, they explained from the City Council.
Another point that stands out is the creation of rapid action teams, which will carry out additional services with the intention of responding imminently to incidents reported by residents. In addition to implementing the fifth container for organic matter, the deposits for the rest of the waste fractions will also be renewed, as well as litter bins, with more than 5,000 new urban elements.
The administrative process began in 2021 with the tender for the new contract, during which two of the participating companies filed various appeals against the award to Urbaser before the Administrative Court of Public Contracts, which last July annulled the first award by partially estimating one from them. The process went back to the moment the criteria were assessed, and Urbaser was awarded again, which generated new appeals that have now been dismissed by the court, allowing the formalization of the contract with Urbaser.
