Energy from Waste - where we are now

Since the end of September 2009, we have been holding discussions with Covanta to agree the terms of the Preferred Bidder appointment and clarifying aspects of Covanta's solution, following the regulations set out under the UK's Public Contrcts Regulations 2006. During these discussions Covanta made us aware of an issue which emerged during their final due diligence. The issue is associated with legal constraints on Covanta's site, which impacts on the commercial aspects of their bid. This has affected our evaluation of final tenders as the matter was not taken into account at the previous evaluation phase.

On 10 March 2010, the Cabinet Member for Planning & Environment took the decision to re-open the final stages of the competition for the contract to treat our household waste, left over after recycling and composting. We will re-engage in discussions with Covanta Energy and Waste Recycling Group (WRG) and the two companies will be asked to submit Final Tenders at the end of Summer 2010. This means that the preferred bidder status previously awarded to Covanta in September 2009 has been withdrawn.

The new preferred bidder for the contract will be chosen after scoring highest against a range of evaluation criteria as detailed in the table below:

Selection criteria
Tier 1 Criteria	Tier 1 Weighting	Tier 2 Number	Tier 2 Criteria	Tier 2 Weighting
A - Technical and Operational	10%	A1	Availability of the proposal to process the contract waste (Note: Buckinghamshire's municipal waste is a priority over all other waste streams) in the event of plant maintenance down-time, peaks in waste supply and breakdown (to cover standby arrangements)	23%
		A2	Feedstock flexibility - The ability of the proposal to effectively manage variation in waste composition (including materials within the municipal l waste stream that may have other classifications see A2e) and tonnages	21%
		A3	Contribution to Recycling, Recovery, Energy and Emissions targets	35%
		A4	Service quality to include evidence of a track record as well as proposed plans on subjects including: Quality Assurance, Health and Safety, staffing, resourcing, data management, reporting etc	21%
B - Deliverability and Planning	25%	B1	Deliverability	50%
		B2	Planning and permitting	50%
C - Environmental and Social*	10%	C1	Levels of process residues generated by the solution	10%
		C2	Energy balance of the solution (considering inputs and outputs for the solution)	15%
		C3	Green house gases emissions (GHG), other gaseous, particulate emissions and carbon footprint (assessment to be made using the WRATE tool developed by the Environment Agency)	25%
		C4	Transportation impact of the solution	25%
		C5	Jobs created due to the development of the solution	10%
		C6	Stakeholder engagement experience and track record as well as proposals for the development of the solution	15%
D - Financial and Commercial	40%	D1	Affordability of the cost of the service provision. (The Council reserves the right not to award the contract solely on the fact that any Final Tender is unaffordable)	20%
		D2	Economic cost of the proposal to the Council	60%
		D3	Robustness of commercial structure and financial viability	20%
E - Legal	15%	E1	Delivery vehicle is a lawful and robust structure with appropriate board consents and vires - Consortium members are suitably committed	20%
		E2	No state aid or other legal impediments arise	5%
		E3	Project Agreement and other contract documents represent a commercially acceptable position and reflect a sharing of risk that represents value for money and is reasonable for the Council to accept	50%
		E4	Suitable warranties and other security offered	15%
		E5	Facility(ies) transfers to Council on expiry or termination or other proposals for continued service provision in the event of failure	10%