Service Description: The current household waste contract comes to an end in 2015 providing us with an opportunity to explore new ways of managing the Island’s waste. We are in the process of developing a new waste strategy for how our waste should be dealt with in the future that may include utilising new technologies. As well as increasing recycling, we will be looking at ways to treat waste as a resource from which we can generate heat and power for the Island.
Also known as:- Landfill Planning Application, Waste Contract, Waste Procurement
Answer: The letting of a new service contract of this size is subject to strict European Union legislation. Following the approval of the Outline Business Case, the council will advertise its requirement in the European Journal. This will be the start of the letting process and is expected to follow a procedure called Competitive Dialogue. The Competitive Dialogue Process starts with the advert in the Official Journal of the European Union in which all interested bidders are invited to send the council an Expression of Interest. All organisations that subsequently submit a detailed application will be included in the council’s procurement process and will be evaluated on the technical, legal and financial merits of their application. Successful bidders were then invited to participate in the next stage procurement process. The Competitive Dialogue that follows is a structured process which allows the council to undertake a series of negotiations over time with bidders. These negotiations are known as ‘Dialogues’ and each Dialogue period ends with bidders submitting proposals for the council to consider and evaluate. This process leads to the refinement of initial proposals (Outline Solutions) into Detailed Solutions and finally Refined Solutions, which should match the Island’s requirements. The Dialogue periods are very detailed negotiations which look at all aspects of the project from solutions that reduce our carbon footprint through to details of innovative waste treatment technologies. The range of skills and experience required to negotiate effectively on this broad range of topics means the council sometimes uses leading specialists and expert advisors to be sure of obtaining the best solutions and protecting the Island’s long term interests.