The tender notice for the treatment of 337,000 tonnes of residual waste per year was published for an initial seven years plus a potential seven year extension, and was valued at £1.11 billion over the entire 14 years.
This £1.11 billion estimate includes “a potential ETS burden of £309m from contract years 3 to14 based on information available at the time of tender publication”. It also includes an assumed 20% additional tonnage which could be requested.
The ETS is due to be extended to energy from waste and incineration from 2028 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Lots
Essex county council is the disposal authority for 12 district, city and borough councils that make up the waste collection authorities across Essex.
The contract was divided into four lots with the collection authorities split into three lots of 175,000 tonnes, 80,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes. The fourth lot was for 42,000 tonnes of bulky waste.
Essex county council, which currently largely relies on landfill for waste disposal, formally launched the tender after saying earlier in the week that it will be relaunched by the end of January (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council then outlined that the new specification will “limit contractors using landfill as a waste disposal method for Essex’s waste from 1 January 2028, except for very limited circumstances where necessary as a contingency measure”.
Interested parties have until 3 April 2024 to bid for the contract, which is due to start a year later.
Attempts
The tender is the latest of many unsuccessful tenders the council has launched which have been withdrawn for a variety of reasons, much to the frustration of interested parties who said they spent time and money on preparing a bid.
Essex has been forced to extend its existing landfill deals due to the collapse of the Tovi Eco Park (see letsrecycle.com story).
Bidders
The contract is one of the most eagerly anticipated waste disposal deals in recent years. The likes of Cory, Viridor and Indaver all have nearby EfW plants either operational or under construction and will likely be bidding for the work.
Other large waste companies will also be keeping a close eye on the contract.
Many other medium-sized regional companies are also planning to bid for the work and could utilise the RDF market.
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