Several recycling firms are set to submit bids for glass and paper recycling contracts on behalf of a coalition of Devonshire waste authorities ahead of an October 7 deadline.
Procurement notices for separate contracts to process glass and paper collected from households, bring banks and recycling centres from four local authorities in Devon were published on August 20.
Devon county council which is leading on the contracts procurement on behalf of East Devon district council, Exeter city council, Mid Devon district council and Teignbridge district council is aiming to award the contracts by the end of 2013.
The tenders for both the paper and glass contracts are for the sale of each of the four councils materials to a reprocessor, but interested parties are also being given the opportunity to bid for haulage of the materials from council collection points to reprocessing facilities.
Glass recyclers such as Recresco, O-I Recycling of Harlow and Viridor are some of the expected contenders for the glass jar and bottle processing contract. Meanwhile, the likes of Aylesford Newsprint, Palm Recycling, Newport Paper, UPM and GD Environmental are believed to be interested in tendering for the paper contract.
The contracts are being offered for an initial period of two years, with the option to extend for further periods of up to three years.
Memorandum
Although only four of the Devon councils have committed to the contract procurement so far by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the contracts are being let with the potential future participation of the six remaining councils on the Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee.
A report published earlier this year by the waste and recycling committee stated that the county council had found it difficult to obtain binding commitments to joint paper and glass contracts from other committee members.
This, the report states, is despite such contracts potentially providing reduced procurement costs for partner councils, market security and contract monitoring by Devon county council.
However, remaining Devon authorities which are not currently part of the contracts being procured will have the option of joining the contracts once they have been awarded.
More councils are expected to join the contract once the arrangements have been finalised, which would allow the non-participating authorities to see if they are economically favourable.
Local authorities in Devon come together under the umbrella of the Devon Authorities Recycling Partnership. The four councils participating in the tender are in the partnership along with the authorities who remain as yet outside of the tender, they are: Plymouth city council; North Devon, South Hams and Torridge district councils; Torbay council; West Devon borough council; and social enterprise South Molton Recycle.
Current contracts
Devon county council currently handles joint contracts for paper, glass, textiles and associated haulage on behalf of eight authorities: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams (via Plymouths stockpile), Teignbridge, Torridge and Plymouth.
Kent-based Aylesford Newsprint holds the current contract to process paper into newsprint for the eight authorities and is thought to be interested in bidding for the new contract.
Meanwhile, glass recycler Recresco currently has the Devon contract to process amber, green and mixed glass at its Cwmbran facility and clear glass at its plant in Southampton. The firm is re-tendering for the glass contract, although it is not seeking a contract for the haulage of the material.
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Haulage of both paper and glass bottles and jars is currently contracted separately, with Devon-based Gregory Environmental a subsidiary of Gregory Distribution handling paper delivery and Exeter-based Parsons Nationwide Distribution Ltd handling the delivery of glass to Recresco.
This is because the previous procurement processes for recycling contracts found that letting a separate contract for glass and paper haulage was cheaper than leaving it to the reprocessor to arrange. Furthermore, although there were higher administration costs in managing separate contracts, as the haulage contracts were won by local companies, this brought about benefits in back haulage.
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