SC18072 - Food Waste Processing Services

KCC requires the processing and disposal of food waste via anaerobic digestion. The AD plant will need to have valid and appropriate planning permission, environmental and other relevant permits for quantity of food waste to be handled and otherwise all permissions and certification required to deliver the services for the duration of the Contract Period.

The food waste collected by the Waste Collection Authorities in Kent will be transferred at and hauled from 7 different Waste Transfer Stations (WTSs) throughout Kent. The third-party waste transfer suppliers that provide waste transfer services in Kent on behalf of KCC will deliver food waste to the AD plant at KCC's own cost.

This cost will be included when considering tenders for food waste processing services. KCC will provide a matrix to allow bidders to calculate the cost of haulage for inclusion.

It is anticipated that the AD plant will need to have the capacity and capability to handle up to 24 000 tonnes of food waste per annum from 1.4.2020, up to 37 000 tonnes from 16.1.2021, and up to 45 000 tonnes from 2023 (this will be confirmed in the ITT). A detailed specification for these services is currently under development.

The requirements are likely to include the following requirements (full details which may differ to be confirmed in the ITT): • for the AD plant to receive food waste Monday - Saturday, including Public and Bank Holidays in England & Wales (the only exception being Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Years Day unless otherwise agreed by KCC); • for the AD plant to receive food waste delivered by articulated vehicles (no tipping trailers; c. net weight 28 tonnes) and bulk haulage vehicles with de-mountable container loading systems (Ro-Ro), tipping discharge mechanism, or non-tipping articulated; • for the AD plant to receive food waste delivered by Refuse Compaction Vehicles (RCVs) and split-bodied RCVs with side pods used to collect food waste from the kerbside where RCVs are able to direct deliver to the AD plant; and • for the AD plant to receive and process food waste collected in both biodegradable and non-biodegradable liners and food waste that may be wrapped in newspaper, kitchen roll or plastic bags; these items should not be considered as 'contamination'. Any tenders that do not pass selection criteria will not be evaluated against the award criteria.

Additional information: The 'quality' element of each Tender will be scored based on a total weighted quality score out of 100%. KCC will set Minimum Quality Threshold (MQT) for the 'quality' element of the Tender.

The Bidder whose Tender meets the MQT, and who submits Contract Prices that result in the Lowest 'Notional Tender Value' (NTV), will be the bidder with the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) and be ranked first and will become the KCC's Preferred Supplier. KCC will reserve the right to exclude bidders from the procurement process that fail to score the MQT for quality.

This cost will be included when considering tenders for food waste processing services. A matrix showing the location of the WTSs from which food waste will be hauled together with notional tonnages from each WTS and a rate per tonne/mile will be included within the tender documents.

Bidders will calculate the cost to the authority of haulage using the matrix provided. For the avoidance of doubt, haulage will not form part of the required services.

The total haulage cost will be added to each bidder's total Gate Fee costs together forming the Notional Tender Value (NTV). This NTV will be used in the evaluation of tenders.

Details regarding sub-award criteria will be set out in the ITT documentation, including: • how quality sub-criteria will be scored and weighted; • what the Minimum Quality Threshold will be; and • how the NTV will be calculated (e.g. cost assumptions). All organisations that register an interest in this opportunity via the Kent Business Portal will automatically be invited to tender.