SC22212 - Waste Treatment and/or Final Disposal (WTFD) Services (Market Engagement)

The Kent County Council (KCC) wishes to engage with suppliers regarding capacity in the market to provide future Waste Treatment and/or Final Disposal (WTFD) Services.

KCC's existing contracts for WTFD services are due to end April and July 2023, respectively. These contracts encompass the disposal of bulky waste (non-hazardous), fly tips, beach cleansing, street cleansing, marine carcasses, and other materials including (but not limited to) carpets and mattresses. KCC currently disposes of around 27,000 tonnes per annum arising from Kent Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), kerbside collections, and trade waste received at KCC's waste transfer stations.

Please see Appendix A (Demand for WTFD Services 2021/22) and Appendix B (Breakdown of Material 2021/22) for the current demand for these services in terms of types of material and volumes. This document will be available on the Kent Business Portal (see above).

It is KCC's intention to incorporate within the new contract(s) for WTFD services contingency arrangements for the temporary receipt and disposal of residual waste, as part of a business continuity solution when there are unplanned/unforeseen shutdowns at the Allington EfW facility; these incidents are infrequent but will enable KCC as the Waste Disposal Authority to fulfil its statutory duty.

KCC is looking to identify and understand alternative methods for the disposal of 'bulky' waste that cannot be disposed of at the Allington EfW facility, and that is currently disposed of mainly as RDF. Landfill is not a desired option.

KCC is also looking to maximise the recycling of materials within this waste stream wherever possible and seeking to identify and understand from the market how this could be achieved and improved upon from current recycling rates, (for example segregation of hard plastics) taking into consideration the UK Government targets around Net Zero and Climate Change.

Please note that the Kent Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and Waste Transfer Stations have extremely limited capacity for sorting any bulky waste on the sites so material sorting may be required to be conducted at the Provider's facility.

It should also be noted that the Environment Agency has undertaken an investigation and confirmed the widespread presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and other hazardous chemicals in both the textiles and foam of upholstered domestic seating.

The law requires that POPs in waste are destroyed to prevent lasting environmental harm and impacts on the food chain. This means waste containing POPs must be incinerated and must not be re-used, recycled or landfilled; as such, the market must consider the handling and processing of certain waste items identified under this legislation, as being components of this contract.

This procurement will be structured into lots, but the lot structure is still to be determined.

Additional information: If your organisation is interested in providing WTFD services and has capacity to take all or some of this material in the future, please 'Register an interest' in this opportunity.

Organisations which 'Register an interest' in this opportunity will be invited to complete a 'Market Engagement Questionnaire', which will be immediately accessible via the online messaging facility Kent Business Portal.

Responses to this questionnaire will be used to inform KCC's strategy for commissioning these services; KCC may contact organisations directly to discuss/clarify their response to this questionnaire where necessary.

The deadline for participating in the market engagement and completion of the questionnaire is 30 September 2022.