The Government has invited bids for the provision of compactor services at the airport dump to crush car and truck bodies as well as other materials for landfill.

A request for quotations, published on the government procurement website, said that the vendor should provide a price that also covers an operator with at least two years’ experience.

It added: “The machine shall be a minimum of 50,000lb with suitable tip-equipped wheels for the airport waste material environment, along with a blade.

“The machine shall be in a good state of repair [safe and sound operator cab, working brakes and well-functioning engine and drivetrain, etc].

“The machine shall have no/minimal fluid leaks and the contractor will be responsible for repairing and subsequent clean-up of any contamination arising from fluid leaks emanating from the machine.

“All rates given shall include for mobilisation and transportation of machine to and from the site.

“Contractor shall provide specified equipment and what is required to keep the equipment in a safe operational condition.”

The scope of works noted that the task will include the compaction of landfill as well as making sure that work surfaces are levelled by the placement of suitable fill material.

The notice said: “The contractor shall supply all materials, labour and equipment to provide the required services during the facility's operational hours.

“The term of the contract is to be for a period of three years, with an option in favour of the Government to extend the contract terms and conditions acceptable to the Government and the selected respondent for an additional term of up to two years.”

Quotes must be submitted either to the Ministry of Public Works on Church Street or by e-mail to publicworkstenders@gov.bm by December 19.

In May, the Government said the metal mountains of crushed cars at the airport waste facility would have been reduced by the introduction of a metal recycling programme to cut back on the pile-ups.

Photographs taken the month before showed mounds of scrapped vehicles.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works and Environment said at the time that the volume was because of a break in the construction of the containers used to remove the cars.

Owners of private cars that cannot be sold on or are “written-off” can take their vehicles to the facility for disposal.

The government website said that cars were crushed within 24 hours of delivery.

They are then sealed in containers, or “cells”, which are shipped out to sea and dumped overboard.

In June, the Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce called for “dumping metal” at sea to be banned.

BEST warned that climate change and rising sea levels “will make a bad situation worse”.

It suggested that the crushed cars could be returned overseas, and said in future a fee should be paid with the purchase of each new car, for the ultimate costs associated with their decommissioning.