SOFT MARKET TEST: Bulk Haulage Contract – Prior Information Notice

Leicestershire County Council recently insourced the operation of 2 waste transfer stations & intends to procure a contract for bulk haulage of waste from these to designated disposal/treatment/recycling sites. It would be expected that the bulk haulage of waste from additional waste transfer stations that may become operated by the Council during the contract term would also fall under this contract. There’s no requirement to arrange for the disposal/treatment/recycling of such waste but destinations & tonnages will vary during the contract term dependent on the needs of the Council. The likely commencement date is 1st April 2019 with min. duration of 2-3 years but with potential for up to 11 years. The Council wishes to explore proposals from prospective bidders as to how this may be implemented to ensure cost effective service delivery. Interested prospective bidders should email Emma Traherne (emma.traherne@leics.gov.uk) to arrange a supplier engagement meeting with the Council.

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Leicestershire County Council (the Council) currently operates two waste transfer stations that handle approximately 37,000 tonnes of waste per annum. The Council also owns one additional waste transfer station handling approximately 35,000 tonnes of waste per annum with the operation currently contracted out to a third party supplier. It is expected that in the short term the tonnage required to be hauled shall be similar to that arising from the two Council operated transfer stations. However, both transfer requirement and capacity are expected to change from the early 2020’s due to variations in how residual waste is managed. This could either increase or decrease tonnage with initial estimates of haulage capacity requirements ranging from 12,000 to 110,000 tonnes per annum dependent on the determined needs of the Council. Delivery point locations are also expected to change. The potential total contract value could therefore vary from between £5,000,000 to £31,000,000 over the potential eleven year period.

For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is for the purpose of conducting a soft market testing exercise and will not formally begin the procurement or constitute any commitment by the Council to undertake any procurement exercise. The soft market testing exercise in this case is where the Council at an early stage in the development of its proposals but prior to formulating any formal procurement opportunity, seeks input from the market as to what might be the most potentially attractive way of packaging and scoping a future procurement opportunity.

This exercise will also provide an opportunity for the Council to obtain insight into how potential providers might approach the delivery of the service in question and gives useful early insight into the likely level of interest in such a procurement in the future.

Potential bidders will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the soft market testing. Potential bidders must also note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an invitation to participate in this or any future procurement that the Council may conduct, nor that the Council will procure any such supply and services or accepts any proposals offered. Any procurement of the supply and services by the Council will be carried out strictly in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. ***THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION***