Just two remain in residual waste treatment contract negotiations

Just two companies now remain in the running to secure a major residual waste treatment contract from the South London Waste Partnership.

Viridor and WRG have been invited to advance into the final round of ‘competitive dialogue’ meetings with the Partnership’s procurement team.  This final stage will allow the two remaining bidders to put the finishing touches to their proposals before they submit Final Tenders in the summer.

The new contract being let by the Partnership is for the treatment of 200,000 tonnes of residual household waste every year that would otherwise be destined for landfill.  Continuing to send this waste to landfill is neither financially nor environmentally sustainable.

Strict procurement rules mean that the details of each bid must remain confidential while the procurement process is ongoing.  The Partnership hopes to able to make a public announcement regarding the chosen solution in early 2012.

The South London Waste Partnership is made up of four councils (Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton) who are working together to provide improved, sustainable and more cost-effective waste management services to their residents.

The most effective way of achieving this is to stop waste from ending up in landfill sites and do something more innovative and environmentally sound with it instead.  The residual waste treatment contract currently being procured by the Partnership – along with continued progress on waste minimisation, recycling and composting fronts – will play a key role in ending the boroughs’ reliance on landfill.

Councillor Andrew Judge, Chair of the South London Waste Partnership Joint Committee, said:

“This is a huge contract – both in terms of investment and in terms of its importance in allowing the four partner boroughs to meet their statutory targets around landfill waste reduction.

“The Partnership has worked hard to whittle down the seven bidders who started the process back in 2009 to the two who now remain.  We are entering the final stage of procurement negotiations, confident that we will be able to deliver a waste treatment solution that is more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable than landfill.”

Ends.