Two bow out of Isle of Wight waste contract tender

Isle of Wight council has today (April 2) announced the three remaining bidders shortlisted for its long-term household waste collection, treatment and disposal contract due to start in October 2015.

The 15-25 year contract, estimated to be worth up to 225 million, will replace the existing municipal waste contract which has been operated by Island Waste Services, a subsidiary of Biffa, since 1997.

Two potential contractors FCC Environment and a consortium comprising Viridor and Serco – have dropped out of the procurement process since the council first asked the bidders to submit their proposals in November 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).

After further evaluation, the bidders invited to move on to the next stage of the tender are:

• Biffa;
• AmeyCespa, and;
• Veolia

The remaining firms have already provided a range of innovative proposals to achieve a 90% landfill diversion rate by 2025 and a combined recycling and composting rate of 55% by 2020 for the island. In 2012/13, the authority achieved an overall recycling rate of 46%.
They will now be invited to develop their solutions in greater detail later this summer, with two final bidders to be announced in the autumn and the preferred bidder selected by August 2015.

Treatment

The deal will also include the collection and treatment of food and green waste, civic amenity site operations, provision of a reuse and waste minimisation service for residents, as well as any necessary infrastructure for the treatment of the islands municipal waste and recyclables.

Councillor Jon Gilbey, executive member for finance and the PFI contract, said: At a time when the council is facing increasing financial challenges, it is really important that the new contract is affordable and offers value for the council over the life of the contract. In addition, we need to achieve the best recycling rates possible and divert as much waste as possible away from landfill to avoid costly landfill tax.

Councillor Luisa Hillard, executive member for sustainability, added: Our procurement team has been working very hard to make sure that this new contract will be more in-keeping with the council’s aspirations and the Island’s sustainable community strategy.

We are looking for increased community benefit as well as large financial savings to get wide-ranging value for our residents. I am confident that through this new contract will see increased sustainability for the future of the Isle of Wight.