With their existing outsourced contract (Urbaser, now FCC Environment) approaching renewal, both councils recognised an opportunity to rethink how services could be delivered. Their ambition was to establish a modern, efficient, and resilient waste service that could respond to evolving environmental policy while managing increasing financial pressures.
The challenge
At the heart of the project was a need to balance performance, sustainability, and cost. The councils were determined to maintain high-quality services for residents while improving operational efficiency and delivering measurable environmental benefits aligned with national net zero objectives.
However, this transformation needed to happen during a period of rising operational costs and ongoing uncertainty in the UK waste and resources policy landscape. The new contract would therefore need to be financially sustainable, flexible enough to accommodate future policy changes, and capable of adapting to shifts in service requirements such as recycling reforms or collection frequency.
In parallel, the procurement itself required the successful delivery of a multi-stage Competitive Dialogue Procedure involving three major private sector contractors. This introduced additional complexity around programme management, stakeholder coordination, and detailed technical evaluation.
Our solution
Eunomia provided end-to-end support throughout the procurement, guiding North Herts Council and East Herts Council through every stage of the Competitive Dialogue Procedure – from early market engagement through to contract award.
The process began with soft market testing, allowing Eunomia to gather insights from industry stakeholders and use these to shape a procurement strategy grounded in market reality. This early engagement proved critical in ensuring that the specification was both ambitious and deliverable.
Building on this foundation, Eunomia supported the development and refinement of all core procurement documentation, including the service specification, evaluation framework, pricing mechanisms and performance structures. Throughout this process, particular emphasis was placed on creating a contract that could withstand future uncertainty.
Future-proofing became a defining feature of the specification. Flexibility was built in to accommodate anticipated policy developments, including the introduction of soft plastics collections, changes to residual waste and dry recycling collection frequency, and broader reforms to national waste strategy.
As the procurement progressed, Eunomia led two rounds of dialogue during the Invitation to Submit Detailed Solutions stage, followed by four further rounds during the Invitation to Submit Final Tender phase. These sessions created valuable opportunities to work closely with bidders, testing assumptions, identifying risks, and refining service models to improve both efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
In particular, the street cleansing model benefited from detailed, collaborative discussions that identified opportunities for savings within an output-based framework. Alongside this, Eunomia supported the evaluation and moderation process, ensuring that all bids were assessed consistently and robustly, while also equipping the evaluation panel with the tools and training needed to make informed decisions.
The process also enabled a broader strategic assessment of delivery models, confirming that re-procuring an outsourced service represented the optimal balance of value for money, risk and operational performance when compared with in-house or LATCo alternatives.
The outcome
Through careful management of the Competitive Dialogue Procedure and sustained engagement with the market, Eunomia supported North Herts Council and East Herts Council in achieving a significant reduction in contract costs between the detailed solutions and final tender stages. Importantly, these savings were realised without compromising service quality or resilience.
Beyond financial outcomes, the councils secured a far more flexible and future-ready contract. The new specification is designed to evolve alongside changing policy requirements and operational demands, giving both authorities confidence that their services can adapt over time.
What’s next?
Eunomia’s combined expertise in procurement delivery and the waste and resources sector enabled North Herts Council and East Herts Council to achieve a robust and financially sustainable outcome. The new contract provides a strong platform for delivering modern, high-quality environmental services while supporting long-term resilience and environmental ambition.
With a future-proofed specification in place, both councils are well positioned to respond to changes in national waste strategy, evolving recycling requirements, and future service transformation opportunities.