Refuse and waste related services

Tender description

An organic waste treatment service contract was made between NWP and the statutory predecessor of arc21 in 2008 after a procurement begun in 2005. After an initial period when waste would be processed elsewhere, NWP was to operate a facility at a site in Belfast (Dargan Road) but the necessary permissions for that operation have not been secured so other arrangements have continued. The contract required a service for 15 years from the grant of planning permission for Dargan Road plus an extended period at arc21’s option. Because there has been no permission, but the contract has not been terminated, it has no definite end date. It is proposed to utilise the provisions of contract allowing the authority to vary the contract to clarify the actual long-term basis of provision of the service, to provide a definite end point and to make appropriate adjustments to the commercial terms; arc21 considers that the variation won't amount to a modification of the contract requiring a new procurement. The contract is intended to serve the region comprising the areas of the arc21 constituent councils. It requires the provision of facilities to process household kitchen and garden organic waste from Council kerbside collection and botanical waste from Council civic amenity sites. The service is to receive, process and secure outlets for the final material, so as to divert biodegradable material from landfill, and increase recovery from waste. The proposed modifications to the contract will remove the obligation on NWP to construct a new facility at Dargan Road. Instead the Contract will provide for services to continue to be provided from NWP’s Glenside facility and its site at Keady. The technical solution for the modified contract will broadly match the original technical proposal. The site at Keady will be used to process the material that would have been treated at aerated static piles at Dargan Road, with the remainder of the waste being treated at NWP’s Glenside facility (or pursuant to subcontracting arrangements).