Adeje Town Hall ended 2024 by approving a significant decision concerning waste collection and public cleaning. In its final session of the year, the council agreed to initiate the administrative process for awarding a new contract for “municipal waste collection and transportation services, street cleaning, and the cleaning and maintenance of other public spaces.”
The process will be conducted through an open procedure, which is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2025, supported by a comprehensive and detailed tender document prepared by the department dealing with municipal services, under councillor Epifanio Díaz Hernández. The proposal was approved at the final plenary session of the year with votes in favour from the Socialist Party (PSOE), Canary Coalition, and the Popular Party, while Unidas Podemos and Vox abstained.
Key improvements include increasing the workforce from 171 to 209 professionals and completely renewing the vehicle fleet, incorporating a significant number of hybrid and electric models. The primary goal of the new contract is to enhance the quality of all related services by expanding coverage and increasing service frequency. For instance, the household waste collection service, known as the grey bin, will now operate seven days a week in major population centres and high-demand areas such as La Postura, Adeje town centre, and Costa Adeje. Furthermore, all changes and improvements will be required to incorporate sustainability measures and ensure the protection and enhancement of the associated jobs, as emphasised by the mayor and councillor during the council meeting.
“This is one of the most important services in the municipality, and we have historically prioritised its quality,” stated mayor José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga during the meeting. “For us,” he continued, “it is crucial that the service is effective, efficient, and meets the demands of our residents while addressing the needs of a growing Adeje that requires increasingly better cleaning services.”
As a result, the contract cost will increase by nearly 30%, “because we aim for the highest possible quality without losing the balance between cost to citizens, the quality we seek, and the necessary and essential improvements in the service,” emphasised Rodríguez Fraga.
The annual cost outlined in the tender exceeds €10 million, and the technical requirements for companies participating in the bidding process include, among other aspects, extending services to seven days a week in designated areas, exceptional responses to emergencies, cleaning of ravine beds in urban areas, removal of algae from beaches, clearing of roadside verges and rural pathways, and implementing a specialised street and pavement cleaning system to ensure real-time removal of dirt and waste, adapted to the characteristics of each neighbourhood in Adeje.
Councillor Díaz Hernández, responsible for drafting the tender and overseeing the process alongside technical staff, explained that the new proposal “aims to address the cleaning issues that we know exist in the municipality.” He assured that the governing team is aware that “the service must improve and that certain situations need to be corrected; this is the new big challenge, and we won’t stop until we achieve it,” he added.
The tender also includes proposals to optimise waste collection and cleaning routes, making them more efficient and effective, and incorporating new technologies to monitor potential service disruptions. All these measures are part of a sustainability plan focusing on carbon footprint compensation and prioritising a new, larger, and more sustainable vehicle fleet.
The tender’s authors have paid particular attention to incorporating social and labour criteria to maintain all current jobs under the existing contractor, improve working conditions, and increase the workforce by nearly 20% in the coming years.
Another notable aspect is the requirement to introduce new applications and technologies to improve and expand communication channels with the public. Information provided by residents about the service will be considered vital for its better functioning.