**SOFT MARKET TESTING** Essex County Council Re-Use

Essex is a large county with almost 1.5 million residents generating approximately 700,000 tonnes of local authority collected waste per annum. As the statutory Waste Disposal Authority for Essex, Essex County Council (the Authority) is responsible for providing a range of arrangements for the management of waste. The Authority operate 21 Recycling Centres for Household Waste (RCHW) and 4 Waste Transfer Stations (WTS), and work closely with the 12 borough, city and district councils who are the Waste Collection Authorities (WCA) within the county of Essex. In April 2022, the Authority in-housed its waste service and therefore now operate and manage 21 Recycling Centres for Household Waste (RCHW) and 4 Waste Transfer Stations (WTS) across the County. In accordance with the Everyone’s Essex Objectives (2021-2025) to minimise waste and create greener communities, as well as the Essex Waste Strategy (2007-2032) pledge to manage waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy, the Authority are committed to managing waste in alignment with these priorities. In consideration of this, the Authority are keen to explore opportunities to develop our re-use scheme further, as well as understand the different types of business models available. Therefore, should your Organisation have experience with management of a re-use scheme which maximises the principles of circular economy, adds social value to the local community and generates income, please contact bethany.gray@essex.gov.uk with a brief summary of the services that your organisation provides by 12pm on 27th October 2023. Please note that at this stage, this opportunity is soft market test only and not a call for competition. This market test exercise is to allow the Authority to ascertain interest from the market, investigate potential options, and consider the best route for a potential future contract opportunity.