Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 22 May 2026, 14:23 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Recycling Infrastructure Contract · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Milton Keynes Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£100,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender · 1 value update
Tender notice expected 16 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 8 yrsends 31 Mar 2036 · up to 31 Mar 2041 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Milton Keynes is officially England’s top recycling city, and the second highest performer in the country according to new Government figures. Our aim is to be the number for recycling. This ambition will form a central part of the procurement to drive up both recycling and reuse (which also contributes towards recycling rate).

This procurement is for the services of the City Council’s Waste Transfer Station, the Household Waste Recycling Centres and Organics (Food and Garden Waste Treatment) into one contract from 2028. To be operated by one Contractor

Milton Keynes City Council ( The Council) are looking to engage with suppliers for the Recycling Infrastructure Contract. This contract will deliver assurances for the Council to maintain a clean, safe, hygienic environment that supports the health & well being of any Corporate Landlord portfolio user. A competitive procurement process will allow the Council to secure a contract that reflects updated service expectations, sustainability commitments, and statutory health and safety standards.

Commencing in the 2028, the contract will be based on a 8-year plus 5-year term.

The Council is looking to engage with suppliers who may be interested in this opportunity and will be holding a market engagement event on 22nd September 2026 via Microsoft Teams further details on times etc will be provided.

If you are interested in attending please send a message by 16th September 2026 via the InTend correspondence providing the following details and an invitation will be sent.

Company Name

Name of Attendee

Email address.

For any suppliers interested in this opportunity please visit our e-Tendering portal - in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/aspx/Home ↗

There may be an opportunity for 1:1 sessions after the market engagement event and further information will be given.

CPV: Construction works for recycling station · Refuse and waste related services · Refuse recycling services · Waste disposal site construction work · Waste transfer station · Waste-tip management services · Waste-treatment plant construction work

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Milton Keynes Council buys Refuse and waste related services (CPV 9050), and who usually turns up

Milton Keynes Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Refuse and waste related services (CPV 9050) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerMilton Keynes Council · all categories
The marketRefuse and waste related services (CPV 9050) · South East England
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 851 of 914 known-size awards · market: CPV 9050 · South East England, n=58
93%21%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in South East England.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 886 of 931 known-location awards · market: CPV 9050 · South East England, n=69
95%75%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South East England.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 16 decided notices · market: CPV 9050 · South East England, n=21
80 days44 days

Half of these awards were announced within 80 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 73 of 934 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 9050 · South East England, n=60
8%40%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer923 lots with bid counts · all categories
8% had one bid
The market47 lots with bid counts · CPV 9050 · South East England
40% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid8% / 40%
Buyer: 71 of 923 lots with published bid counts. Market: 19 of 47 lots with published bid counts.
2–39% / 45%
Buyer: 86 of 923 lots with published bid counts. Market: 21 of 47 lots with published bid counts.
4–69% / 13%
Buyer: 85 of 923 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 47 lots with published bid counts.
7+74% / 2%
Buyer: 681 of 923 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 47 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer45 lots with estimate and award · all categories
44% below estimate
The market29 lots with estimate and award · CPV 9050 · South East England
41% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate44% / 41%
Buyer: 20 of 45 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 29 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%31% / 31%
Buyer: 14 of 45 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 29 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate24% / 28%
Buyer: 11 of 45 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 29 lots with an estimate and award.
2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 905096 monthsPublished estimate£100m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 47 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet40% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 47 similar lots
1 bid40%
19 of 47 similar past lots received 1 bid (40%).
2–345%
21 of 47 similar past lots received 2–3 (45%).
4–613%
6 of 47 similar past lots received 4–6 (13%).
7+2%
1 of 47 similar past lots received 7+ (2%).
Check who supplied similar work and whether the route limits bidders.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £100m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
22 May 2026, 14:23 BST
Last source update
4 Sept 2026, 12:09 BST
Authority reference
2026-159
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-083854
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Construction works for recycling stationRefuse and waste related servicesRefuse recycling servicesWaste disposal site construction workWaste transfer stationWaste-tip management servicesWaste-treatment plant construction work
Delivery area
South East (UKJ12)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a174 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

22 May 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published153 days ago
    22 May 2026, 14:23 BST
  2. Latest notice published48 days ago
    4 Sept 2026, 12:09 BST
  3. Tender notice expected36 days ago
    16 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Market engagement36 days ago
    16 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST

    Please refer to notice and Portal for further information

    For any suppliers interested in this opportunity please visit our e-Tendering portal - in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/aspx/Home ↗

    Any questions the Council have will be circulated in advance of the market engagement event

  5. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  6. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 May 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    22 May 2026, 14:23 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    3 Sept 2026, 16:50 BST
    UK2
  3. Published value published: £100,000,000
    3 Sept 2026, 16:50 BST
  4. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Sept 2026, 12:09 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Updated Contract start and end date

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Milton Keynes City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLDZ-6131-PWZH Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, South East, MK9 3EJContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure