Provision of Dry Mixed Recycling Services and Haulage

Description

South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council (the Councils) as second tier Waste Collection Authorities operate a shared household waste and recycling collection service. This is currently contracted out to a waste collection company whose material sorting arm accepts the Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR) material at its Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The DMR is fully co-mingled in line with the Governments Core Materials Set. That means that all recycling other than food and garden waste are collected within the same receptacle from households. The current contractual arrangements for this service is due to expire on 28 June 2026. This procurement concerns the proposed award of a new contract to a suitable Supplier that is intended to replace/succeed the existing arrangements which is anticipated to commence from Monday 29 June 2026. This proposed contract is for the transport of the Councils' DMR from the Waste Transfer Station to a MRF for separation and onward sale to the markets for re-processing. Under the proposed contract the Councils require that the DMR be collected from the Waste Transfer Station. The Councils will not be supplying vehicles for this purpose and it will be the responsibility of the successful Supplier to secure suitable vehicles for the provision of this service. The Waste Transfer Station is operated by FCC Recycling (UK) Limited, who the Councils hold a contract with for receiving DMR and making it available to Hauliers. The Waste Transfer Station is located at Appleford Sidings, OX14 4PW. Once the DMR has been picked up from the Waste Transfer Station and transported to a MRF the successful Supplier will be responsible for ensuring that all the recyclable materials received at the MRF or MRFs will then be separated out into the key material types and sold onto re-processing markets. The Councils are open to bids from existing MRF operators and will also consider bids on a merchant basis. For merchant bids the Supplier remains responsible for all aspects within the specification and should note that a full audit trail of the material will be required. Under this contract the successful Supplier will be required to separate out the maximum amount of DMR received and pass this on to re-processors, minimising the amount of recyclate sent for disposal. A split from the sale of materials, as described within the Pricing Schedule, will be passed on by the Supplier to the Councils. It will track the LetsRecycle pricing index. The Councils are in the top 5 in the country for recycling performance and have been so for over a decade. The recyclate in scope for this contract is, in comparison to many other local authorities, low in contaminants. Total annual tonnages are circa 27,000. This tender notice is for the award of a public contract through an open procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023. The Councils will use the online Proactis portal at [https://sebp.due-north.com] (the Portal) to make associated tender documents available to suppliers. Suppliers wishing to participate in this procurement process are required to submit their completed Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and Tenders through the Portal by 1pm on 25 November 2025. The following associated tender documents are being made available with the publication of this tender notice (via the Portal) to provide further information about the procurement process: • Tender Notice • PSQ; • Invitation to Tender (ITT and appendices); • Contract; The technical specification for this opportunity can be accessed via the Portal. Suppliers are referred to the associated tender documents which set out the conditions of participation and detailed award criteria (including sub-criteria) applicable to this procurement process