And, the potential for such contracts has now prompted Milton Keynes council to join the consortium.
The Consortium is also considering whether to build its own materials recycling infrastructure, which could include processing plants for materials such as glass or plastics.
”The responses for the paper tender were the best we have ever had.“
– Warwickshire council officer Glenn Fleet
The paper contract is for 12,000 tonnes of newsprint and magazines from the members of the consortium: Warwickshire county council, Daventry district council, Kettering borough council, Leicestershire county council, Northamptonshire county council and prisons in the area. The concept is supported by the Waste and Resources Action Programme.
Co-ordination of the contract is being carried out by Glenn Fleet, waste minimisation and recycling manager at Warwickshire county council.
Speaking at a seminar on maximising recycling held recently by the Environmental Services Association, Mr Fleet said that the tender had resulted in some of the best returns ever received by the councils and could raise income by as much as 100%.
Working with legal support from the public sector Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation, a total of 43 expressions of interest in the tender were received with 11 companies eventually submitting bids.
“The tender had seven options and we asked prices for the whole lot and separately as well as not for the supply of material on an ex-works basis,” explained Mr Fleet.
Mr Fleet said: “The responses were the best we have ever had. For bring sites the tenders are coming in saying we will provide the bin, service it and pay you for the material as well.”
Traditionally, contracts for used newspapers and magazines have been on an ex-works basis which is the price the reprocessor (a newsprint mill) will pay for the material and the mill will collect the material. Some of the bids received have been on this basis.
Infrastructure
On the potential for developing the Consortium's own infrastructure, Mr Fleet said: “We consider we are in a region with a substantial engineering infrastructure and that there should be the infrastructure to process our material. We have certainly started to look at this.”
And, the consortium is also proposing to look at large scale contracts for all the dry recyclables produced in the region. “With paper we were fortunate that there were a number of authorities coming up to tender. The next material will be glass.”
Milton Keynes
With an increasing population, currently around the 200,000 level, Milton Keynes has long been an important supplier of recyclables to the reprocessing industry. Joining the Consortium, explained Gill King, the council's waste minimisation officer, would give the authority an extra option for selling the material.
“We do have good markets at present, but this will broaden our options,” she said.
The Milton Keynes material comes through the authority's materials recycling facility which is currently operated by Cory Environmental on a temporary contract. A tender for the running of the MRF has been issued and a long-term appointment of a contractor is expected this summer.
Subscribe for free