Cr Andrew Noone, the chairman of the council's kerbside working party, said when contacted yesterday a tender was expected to be confirmed during the non-public part of the Dunedin City Council meeting on Monday.
However, the new system was now not expected to be introduced until February next year, he confirmed.
The council originally had hoped to launch its new service in October this year, when the contract for the existing service expires, but late last year decided to aim for a launch date in December this year.
Yesterday, Cr Noone said the launch had again "dropped back a couple of months" as negotiations over tenders continued.
However, he said it "seems to make a lot of sense" to launch the new collection system as students returned rather than over the Christmas holiday period when people were "focused on other things".
"It's a much better time of the year to introduce a new system," he said.
Cr Noone would not comment when asked to confirm the exact details of the tender, including the price, to be signed off on Monday.
"All I'm going to say is I'm not going to elaborate," he said.
An announcement would be made after the meeting, once the non-public details had been confirmed, he said.
"That's all part of the tender process," he said.
In December, councillors voted for a revised two-crate recycling system, with existing blue crates used for glass and a new lidded crate introduced for mixed recyclables.
The collection of the crates would alternate fortnightly, and indicative costings in December put the price at between $65 and $97 annually per household, depending on the length of the contract approved.
