General News
17 December, 2025
Waste plan takes another step forward
THE future of Mareeba Shire’s waste disposal has reached a new milestone, with a local company given Early Tenderer Involvement (ETI) to negotiate detailed service provision.
With all current waste management contracts due to expire next year, the council will be working with Remondis, which currently operates the Springmount Landfill, to complete a more technical and commercial assessment on developing and operating the Mareeba landfill or setting up off-site waste disposal.
The decision-making on landfill operations has a critical influence on the kerbside collection contract and other waste management operations, such as recycling.
Remondis was one of three businesses shortlisted after council called for expressions of interest in 2024.
The companies then took part in a number of workshops in March and April 2025, before submitting tenders in Stage 2 of the process.
The Stage 3 due diligence phase was awarded to Remondis by the council at its November meeting, and aims to be a binding agreement, subject to council approval.
The decision was based on the ETI submissions received and the evaluation panel assessment against the evaluation criteria.
A report to council, said all tenderers “demonstrated the technical and commercial capability to develop the Mareeba landfill”, however, only Redmondis submitted an alternate offer for off-site waste disposal at Springmount Landfill.
In previous waste management reports, Deputy Mayor Lenore Wyatt said the staged assessment process had provided a better understanding of the capabilities of the private sector in Far North Queensland.
Once the third stage has been costed, council would go back to the community to determine the level of interest in introducing kerbside recycling.
