And, the council is also seeking bids for a four-year framework agreement for waste transfer station services in the county, which could be extended for a further seven years.
Potential bidders are expected to convene at a pre-tender briefing in Norwich today (February 9) in order to express their interest in the procurement, which is valued at between £65 million and £124 million.
The waste treatment tender follows the council’s decision to scrap plans to build a 268,000 tonnes-per-year capacity energy from waste plant in April 2014 after Defra pulled funding for the project (see letsrecycle.com story).
The facility, which was to be developed under a £500 million contract with consortium Cory Wheelabrator, was envisaged to treat household residual waste from across Norfolk over 25 years.
Interim
Under the terms of the interim contracts revealed last week (February 5), the council requires 200,000 tonnes of residual waste to be tipped and hauled, and for 125,000 tonnes of that residual waste to be disposed of annually.
The contracts are expected to be awarded in October this year, and will commence from April 2016 following a five month transition period.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today (February 9), Councillor Toby Coke, chairman of the county council’s environment committee, said he expected there to be ‘a lot of interest’ in the procurement.
At present, around 40,000 tonnes of Norfolk’s residual waste is sent for processing at SITA UK’s Great Blakenham EfW plant under a two-year interim agreement with Suffolk county council.
The council also has a service level agreement with its in-house waste management company, dealing with the treatment and disposal of around 35,000 tonnes of refuse per year.
Both arrangements are due to end in autumn 2016 with options to be extended. Should either or both arrangements cease during the term of the contracts, the council has stated it may require contractors to accept increased quantities of waste.
Long-term
The council’s long-term arrangements for waste treatment in Norfolk have yet to be decided. In December 2014, the council opted to retain the site for the energy from waste facility – but has ruled out using the site to develop another incinerator (see letsrecycle.com story).
Meanwhile, a waste conference will take place in Norwich on February 24 in order to discuss the potential technologies that could be implemented.
Councillor Coke added: “The conference will focus on technology solutions as opposed to any one particular company. We will take this process forward and it should be interesting.”
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