Staffordshire councils seek joint recycling contract

Six Staffordshire councils are seeking a joint contract to process dry recycling collected in the county from September 2014.

The procurement process is well underway according to a Staffordshire Joint Waste Management Board report, with the aim being for fixed prices to be offered for every tonne of material processed by the contractor.

The Staffordshire Waste Partnership is coordinating the procurement process on behalf of six councils: Cannock Chase district council; East Staffordshire district council; Staffordshire Moorlands district council; Lichfield district council; Tamworth borough council; and South Staffordshire district council.

Stafford borough council and Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council were also involved in early discussions surrounding the contract, but so far neither have firmly expressed an interest in joining.

A memorandum of understanding between the participating councils is now being drawn up with a final decision about which councils are joining the procurement process needed by January 10 2014.

A very successful bidders day for interested potential bidders took place in November 2013 and the Partnership is now currently working on an Invitation to Tender (ITT) document, which it aims to complete in early March before the contract is opened to tender.

The contract term is expected to last seven years with an option to extend. However, Staffordshire Moorlands council have reserved the right to restrict the contract to two years to tie in with their service evaluation with High Peak council in Derbyshire. The two councils entered a strategic alliance in 2008 for joint procurement exercises.

It is claimed that jointly procuring for a recycling contract will achieve better value for money from contractors as a larger volume of material is offered to the contractor.

Current contract

With the exception of Staffordshire Moorlands, these same councils in southern Staffordshire hold the current single collection and processing contract with Biffa to take dry recyclable materials such as paper, card, tins and glass.

Under the Biffa contract, which ends in March 2015, commingled material is sent to the firms materials recycling facility (MRF) in Aldridge, West Midlands for sorting. Biffa claims the 300,000 tonnes per year capacity MRF is Britains largest and can accept both comingled and segregated materials.

EfW plant

Furthermore, the Staffordshire Joint Waste Management Board report also outlines the progress on the energy-from-waste (EfW) plant on the Four Ashes Industrial Estate which is now expected to begin full operations from January 31 2014.

The 300,000 tonnes of waste per year capacity incinerator believed to be worth 122 million has been developed under a 25-year, 1 billion PFI-funded residual waste treatment and disposal contract agreed between the county council and Veolia Environmental Services in July 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Staffordshire Waste Partnership includes the six councils involved in the new joint procurement process as well as the county council, Stoke-on-Trent city council, Stafford borough council and Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council.