North Somerset advertises contracts worth 77m

Companies have until March 13 2009 to express initial interest in the deals, which are being advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).

The tender document is separated into three lots and includes a seven-year contract worth £5 million-a-year for the collection of 120,000 tonnes of household waste and recyclable material arising annually. The contract involves the introduction of food waste collections.

A second contract, also worth £5 million-a-year for seven years, covers the transportation and treatment of these materials, while a third contract is being let for the management of three household waste recycling centres within the authority.

The third contract is worth £1 million-a-year on its own but the council intends to let it in combination with one of the other two lots.

The deals are set to replace the council's current contract with Veolia Environmental Services, which has been in place since it took over collections and waste management from Biffa Waste Services in 2003.

Councillor Carl Francis-Pester, executive member for the environment, said: “Every tonne of waste that goes to landfill costs the local tax-payer and it is likely that these costs will increase. At the moment about 39% of household waste in North Somerset is recycled, but we need to increase these rates to avoid facing additional penalties.

“We are asking potential contractors to consider costings for collection of food waste to establish whether this would be a viable option in North Somerset to help us reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill,” he added.

Contracts

The new contracts in North Somerset are intended to last for seven years, with the option to be extended to 14 years, and the council is hopeful that it will receive between five and 10 tenders for the deal when it is fully advertised in April 2009.

The council intends to award the contract in October 2009 and commence the new arrangements from March 2010.

Towards the end of the 2008, North Somerset was slammed by the Audit Commission in a report that claimed the council had “ineffective monitoring” and “slow responses” to investigate a claim that it could have paid almost £300,000 more than it should have to dispose of domestic household waste (see letsrecycle.com story).

Previous waste collection contractor Biffa Waste Services denied the implication that there had been a substitution of trade and household waste which had accounted for “unusual tonnages” arising for the financial years 2002/03 and 2003/04.