Huizenga is Latest Player In Broward’s Garbage Wars

BY BUDDY NEVINS

 

Billionaire entrepreneur Wayne Huizenga wants a piece of Broward County’s waste disposal business.

Huizenga’s Choice Environmental told the county that the firm “stands ready to work with the county or any other party to craft disposal solutions…”

The letter, signed by Choice’s Chief Administrative Office and General Counsel Grant Smith, was distributed on the eve of Tuesday’s scheduled debate on the future of Broward’s waste disposal.

The move by Huizenga’s company is one week after upstart Sun/Bergeron broke Waste Management’s hold over disposal in 26 Broward cities. Last week, Sun/Bergeron won a bid to handle Miramar’s waste disposal for five years beginning in 2012.

Ironically, Huizenga got his start at Waste Management before founding Blockbuster and then AutoNation.

The entry of Choice into the mix proves County Commissioner John Rodstrom’s contention. He has wanted to open the business to competition, saying  more than just the two companies that bid in Miramar – Waste Management and Sun/Bergeron – are interested in Broward’s multi-million dollar disposal business.

The competition now pits one of the biggest waste firms in the world Waste Management, against two of the Gold Coast’s major business players – Huizenga, long-time successful entrepreneur and wealthy investor Ron Bergeron, the public face of Sun/Bergeron. There could be more players enter.

How this development will affect the attempts by Waste Management to negotiate a contract with various cities behind closed doors is not immediately known.  But city managers will be hard pressed to justify any sweetheart deal they develop privately when players like Bergeron and Huizenga are begging to compete, say industry sources.

Choice is a subsidiary of Swisher Environmental, Huizenga’s latest business.  He is chairman and long-time Huizenga associate Steven Berrard is chief executive officer.  Waste Management is bidding through its subsidiary, Wheelabrator Technologies.



6 Responses to “Huizenga is Latest Player In Broward’s Garbage Wars”

  1. The Truth About Lieberman says:

    Commissioners must ask themselves why they should listen to Ilene Lieberman at all since she was so insistent that they should sign a contract with Wheelabrator and extent the monopoly for 20 years without taking a single bid.

  2. John Fusaro says:

    We should open the contract to competitive bidding. Our residents deserve to hear all sides. I’m not naive to believe that Huizenga, Bergeron etc have our best interest at heart their businessmen. We need to know how the bidding affect jobs. How will our recycling programs be affected?

  3. sidelines says:

    Wasn’t Huizenga a founder of Waste Management? Read a rags to riches article where he started w/a truck hauling trash.

  4. Victoria Grayson says:

    I want the rights to the musical on this one.

  5. Noneya says:

    If you believe this clown started with one truck and started a garbage business, I got 50 thousand of his shares in Swisher tat I’ll give you for free

  6. sidelines says:

    Breaking News
    Gunzburger states as BCC mtg wraps she reads the blogs on trash contract.
    Keep up honest reporting!