The Provision of Treatment of Street Sweeping Arisings from North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield 2026-2030

CPV: Refuse and waste related services

Procedure method

Direct award

Legal basis

UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Administrative change

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Unspecified in notice

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

20 May 2025, 17:42 BST

Last source update

14 Sept 2026, 14:17 BST

Authority reference

HCC2617608

FTS notice number

2026/S 000-086909

Latest notice

Contract change notice (UK10)

Classification (CPV)

Refuse and waste related services

Delivery area

East of England (UKH23)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-051985 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

Switching Direct Award

Published justification

Switching to direct award

In November 2025, the Waste Management Unit (WMU) team at Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) issued an open procurement for HCC2517040 - The Provision of Treatment of Street Sweeping Arisings 2026-2030.

The contract covered the collection, transport and treatment of street sweepings collected by all ten (10) Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs) in Hertfordshire. To facilitate the tender process and reflect the operational boundaries, the procurement was divided into ten (10) lots, one for each district/borough.

By the submission deadline in January 2026, only one tender was received. The sole tenderer, Biffa Waste Services Ltd (Biffa), submitted bids for eight (8) out of the ten (10) lots. North Herts and Welwyn Hatfield received no bids.

Evaluation and call-in procedure were completed in February 2026. Biffa on 5th March 2026 was awarded a contract for the eight (8) lots it tendered for.

The HCC WMU team held further discussions with Biffa regarding the two unbid lots. Biffa expressed interest in delivering these services, subject to a minor adjustment to the collection methodology, moving from the current "collect and swap container" model to the use of an articulated lorry. HCC is satisfied that the conditions of contract have not been significantly altered.

As no suitable tenders were received following a competitive process, HCC determined that it was appropriate to proceed with a direct award for the remaining two lots as permitted under Section 43(1) of the Procurement Act 2023, where a competitive process has failed to produce any suitable bids.

HCC considers that an award under Section 19 is not possible in the circumstances. The original open tender attracted only a single bid for eight (8) out of the ten (10) lots. The collection methodology for the eight (8) lots was the use of an articulated lorry. This outcome demonstrates a very limited level of market interest in delivering the service model.

HCC has assessed whether amending the two lots which received no bids through a minor change to the collection methodology (to the use of an articulated lorry) would be likely to generate additional competition. HCC has concluded that such changes would not materially alter supplier capability or appetite. On this basis, HCC considers this to indicate that, even if the unsuccessful lots were amended by making a minor adjustment to the collection methodology, the likelihood of receiving a bid from another supplier would remain remote.

The successful Bidder has also confirmed that they would honour the same pricing applied to the eight (8) lots they were awarded for the remaining two (2) lots. Given this, it is unlikely that re-running the procurement would deliver better value. Moreover, the time constraints would have made it highly challenging to maintain continuity of service across Hertfordshire's network. Without this direct award, the only viable alternative would have been to dispose of street sweepings through more expensive and less environmentally sustainable methods.

Submission deadline

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• BIFFA LANDFILL SOLUTIONS LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 01362615GB-PPON: PMHQ-5261-TVZP Coronation Road, High Wycombe, South East, HP12 3TZContact emailShow contact details
• BIFFA WASTE SERVICES LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 00946107GB-PPON: PRQC-5121-CMBL Coronation Road, High Wycombe, South East, HP12 3TZContact emailShow contact details