Food Waste Receipt and Treatment

Suffolk County Council is looking to appoint up to three Contractors to receive and process Suffolk's Food Waste.

The contract(s) will be directly between the successful Contractor(s) and Suffolk County Council, who are acting on behalf of Suffolk's District and Borough Councils. (Babergh District Council, East Suffolk Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Mid Suffolk District Council and West Suffolk Council)

We anticipate that the Contract will be let in 3 geographical lots, these being based in the East (Ipswich), North (Lowestoft), and West (Bury St Edmunds) of the county. Based on actual collections since June 2026, we expect approximately 25,000-28,000 tonnes of food waste in total to be collected each year across the County. Whilst this tonnage is not guaranteed, the successful contractor(s) will be offered exclusivity of the tonnage within each lot. We are issuing this notice to inform the market of our intentions and invite all prospective service providers to participate in the pre-market engagement exercise to enable us to shape a suitable contract and procurement process.

The waste is expected to be delivered directly to the processing sites. The Authority is interested in solutions which minimise the overall cost and environmental impact of the service. Consequently, the future procurement will consider the transport distance between collection areas and treatment facilities, together with associated haulage impacts and treatment costs, as part of the evaluation methodology.

Processing should create Biogas and Digestate to PAS110 standards.

Average monthly tonnages expected (but not guaranteed) are as follows:

Lot 1 East - Ipswich 933 tonnes

Lot 2 North - Lowestoft 367 tonnes.

Lot 3 West - Bury St Edmunds 994 tonnes

Estimated total value (Ex. VAT):

Lot 1 East - Ipswich £1,791,360

Lot 2 North - Lowestoft £704,640

Lot 3 West - Bury St Edmunds £1,908,480

Total: £4,404,480

We intend to publish the tender notice for this opportunity in Qtr. 4 of 2026/27.