Wokingham Borough Council has opened its tender process for the supply of waste and recycling services.
Once awarded, the new £112 million contract will commence on April 1, 2026.
The procurement of a new contract was the subject of a heated debate at July’s full council meeting.
In the tender documents, Wokingham Borough Council said: “The waste and recycling collection services currently consist of a fortnightly collection of waste and dry recycling, occurring on alternate weeks, a weekly food waste collection and an opt-in fortnightly chargeable garden waste collection from households that subscribe to the service.
“Household bulky waste collections occur throughout the week, and are dependent on the bookings made for the service.
“The authority also undertakes clinical waste collections from households that require such a service, and these can consist of regular scheduled collections and more ad hoc collections.
“The authority currently does not provide a commercial waste service beyond its statutory duty, and this does not form part of this contract.
“There are a small number of households which have weekly collections and/or present blue sacks rather than wheeled bins for residual waste, due to access restrictions.
“The service will also include the delivery of street cleansing services, mechanical and manual sweeping and litter bin emptying.
“Wokingham Borough Council has changed its traditional approach to service delivery.
“It has implemented fortnightly collections from August 2024, and will integrate street cleansing into its waste contact as part of the new arrangements for 2026.
“We will be preparing for the proposed environment bill, and have made provision for this in our contract documentation.
“Our enhanced aspirations for social value and environmental improvement are also clear.
“It is likely that we will also provide the capital for vehicles rather than bidders. Thus, the value is based on current approximate contract value and does not include the planned changes and new approaches as stated.”
The tender remains open until September 1.
