The successful bidder will initially collect used clothing and other materials from eight Devon district for a period of two years, with an option to extend until 2020.
These include East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, Teignbridge, South Hams, West Devon and Torbay district and unitary councils.
Potential contractors will be expected to collect an estimated 350 tonnes of textiles including used clothing from bring bank sites across Devon each year – as well as 250 tonnes per annum from kerbside schemes in some of the districts. However, these tonnages are liable to fluctuate.
The county council also advises that bidders should be able to show a minimum annual turnover of £400,000 over the past three years, as stipulated in the invitation to tender. Textile banks will also need to be provided by the contractor.
Partnership
The contract is being tendered in partnership with the district and unitary authorities through the Devon Authorities Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee – which are working together to achieve a 65% recycling rate by 2025/26.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, a spokesman for Devon county council said: “We do a lot of prevention first and foremost. There is need for a recycling element but we are encouraging reuse.
“We know the collectors will want quality clean, dry clothes and paired shoes, but not duvets and bedding. Because the market has been so poor recently there is less incentive to take low quality material, but our bring bank material is good quality.”
Elm Tree Textiles
Devon recently ended its contract with service provider Elm Tree Textiles, which is based in Sherborne, Dorset. It is understood that the arrangement – which began in August 2014 – ended due to a breakdown in negotiations over the price paid to the council for the textile bank material.
Elm Tree, which has also worked with the Dorset Waste Partnership, deals largely with charities and schools to support fundraising projects in the South West. It is a member of the South West Waste & Recycling Forum.
Commenting on the pressure faced by textile recyclers, a spokeswoman for Elm Tree said: “It’s a changing market and what we have got is a mismatch. The wholesale price has to exceed the stock purchase price, if the price agreed is too high then the margin becomes too narrow.”
Elm Tree is continuing to provide textile bank collections in Devon under an interim arrangement with Devizes Textiles.
Potential bidders for the Devon councils’ new textiles contract have until 22 January 2016 to submit their interest.
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