Notice Information
Notice Title
Food Waste Treatment Services contract
Notice Description
Essex County Council (ECC) is planning to issue a tender as early as 2026 for a contract(s) relating to the anaerobic digestion treatment and disposal of food waste collected from households in the Essex area. The required treatment services must start on 1 April 2028. ECC manages approximately 40,000 tonnes per annum of separately collected household food waste. The contracting authority is Essex County Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR). Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation. The estimated value provided includes the extension period.
Planning Information
As part of the drafting of tender documents ECC is considering the best way to divide its food waste treatment requirements so that it obtains the best value solution(s) from the market. ECC is considering the division of the treatment requirement into lots to make the offering as attractive as possible to both bidders with small amounts of capacity and those with larger capacity that can offer discount for volume. To this end, please read the Proposed Lotting Approach description below along with the worked examples and give us your feedback and comments in the questions at the end of the document. Thank you. Potential Bidders are invited to request a copy of the questionnaire from: Waste.Procurement@essex.gov.uk
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-055798
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068145-2026
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Not Specified
- Procurement Method Details
- Not specified
- Tender Suitability
- SME
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
-
- CPV Codes
90500000 - Refuse and waste related services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £7,000,000 £1M-£10M
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 20 Jul 20262 days ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 30 Jul 20261 weeks to go
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 31 Mar 2028 - 31 Mar 2031 2-3 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planning
- Lots Status
- Planning
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL
- Contact Name
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Email
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Phone
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Buyer Location
- Locality
- CHELMSFORD
- Postcode
- CM1 1QH
- Post Town
- Chelmsford
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLH East (England)
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLH3 Essex
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLH36 Heart of Essex
- Delivery Location
- TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)
-
- Local Authority
- Chelmsford
- Electoral Ward
- Moulsham and Central
- Westminster Constituency
- Chelmsford
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068145-2026
20th July 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068036-2026
20th July 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010729-2026
5th February 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/036807-2025
2nd July 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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"description": "Food Waste Market Engagement Questions 2026 Introduction to market engagement: Essex County Council (ECC) is planning to issue a tender in late 2026 for a contract(s) relating to the anaerobic digestion treatment and disposal of food waste collected from households in the Essex area. The required treatment services must start on 1 April 2028. ECC manages approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum of separately collected household food waste. ECC's current food waste treatment contracts are due to expire on 31st March 2028 and therefore a treatment solution for this service is needed to replace it. ECC is considering letting a contract(s) for an initial 3 year term or longer (commencing on 1 April 2028) with the option to extend by agreement in any number of periods not exceeding a total of an additional 10 years. Purpose of market engagement: The purpose of this market engagement is to better understand the market's appetite and capability in respect of a number of commercial topics. The information gathered will assist the authority in preparing a tender pack that encourages and enables the market to propose its best value solutions for the residents of Essex. Format of market engagement: ECC has prepared a questionnaire, of which a copy can be requested via email from Waste.Procurement@essex.gov.uk; and which invites interested providers to complete and return to Waste.Procurement@essex.gov.uk. All information submitted will be treated in confidence and any references to the findings will be reported on a summary level on an anonymous basis. ECC will be running a series of 1-2-1 market engagement sessions online via a Teams meeting - to enable further exploration of the topics and to clarify any of the responses received. ECC intends for these 1-2-1 sessions to be up to two hours in length. ECC is keen to meet you so please express your interest in one of the sessions shown in the table within the document by emailing us at Waste.Procurement@essex.gov.uk."
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