Waste management is a vital service with a vast economic footprint, particularly in the UK where we produce significant amounts of waste relative to the size of our population. In fact, according to Waste Direct, the UK generates more than 222 million tonnes of waste each year, and this is a figure which has grown by 0.6% over the past 20 years. It should be no surprise, then, that there are more than 4,000 waste management facilities across the UK, and that the value of the waste market was estimated at around £29 billion in 2024.
Waste is a large and growing industry, spanning every sector, which means that there is a large scope for waste management businesses and employment opportunities. However, this also increases competition for work and small and medium-size companies face stiff competition during the tendering process.
At Tender Victory, we have a team of professionals ready to help with any tendering challenges you may face. We have a deep understanding of the requirements of tenders within the waste management sector, and here we have endeavoured to share some of these insights.
Getting Prepared for Your Waste Management Tender
To help you be as prepared as possible, we have composed a list of common topics covered in waste tenders, below. The aim being to introduce you to what is most important within the waste management sector and give you the best chance of writing a winning tender submission:
- Compliance: Duty of care and the audit trail of waste generation, waste transportation and waste disposal, is a critical area of compliance in waste management; as is adherence to environmental regulations and local authority planning. Be prepared to demonstrate your organisation’s management of compliance in your tender responses. Buyers will want to know what you do regarding your own waste disposal and transfer. This will include who in your business is responsible for the different elements within these processes, how you segregate and dispose of waste.
- Health & Safety procedures used to ensure the safety of staff and the general public during waste management and waste transportation activities is another topic of high importance and relevance. Anticipate tender questions about how waste collections will be undertaken and completed safely.
- Environmental credentials and sustainability are important topics that are likely be raised through specific questions in any waste-related tender. Buyers will want to know that your business complies (at the very least) with a list of credentials and accreditations that they have specified within the tender requirements. This will include understanding your own businesses procedures, including recycling processes within your organisation and supply chain, and any other sustainable practices, including the use of EVs or renewable energy. You can also include any goals you have set regarding sustainability, that your business is proactively aiming for.
- As with all tenders, value for money is important. The buyer will want to know what you consider to be any added value and what are offering that is in addition to the service you are tendering for. This will include anything from savings made through introducing more efficient processes, to how you can support them in meeting their own sustainability or environmental goals, as well as how you monitor and manage your own impact. Each of these things add additional value at no extra cost to the buyer.
- Staffing and management teams are important – you should inform the buyer of your management team’s backgrounds and promote your extensive expertise. This should include number of years in the waste management industry and all relevant qualifications, in addition to CVs and staff biographies (where permitted).
- When it comes to mobilisation, this is a big area of concern for numerous buying organisations, especially if they are a big enterprise with complex requirements and numerous sites. Here, you should detail your overarching mobilisation plan and make sure it matches any requirements and the specification that has been provided by the buyer: they will want to assess whether your business can implement the contract seamlessly and smoothly to make sure it’s not going to impact their own service offer and, most importantly, their compliance with waste management legislation.
- Showcasing your past experience is always a key part of the tender process, and so having a range of case studies, examples of work and references will be really important. This will enable you to evidence that you have worked in and understand the sector, and to back-up your case that you can provide a seamless and fully compliant service to your new client.
Standing Out From the Competition
To help you feel more prepared (or if you’re struggling to get started on your tender responses), we recommend that you note down information about your business that relates to the topics above. This will give you a clear idea of what you will need to include within your tender and of what the buyer wants to hear from you. From here, you should feel more prepared to write winning tender responses.
We believe that it is always important to make your tenders stand out from competition, as this will highly increase your chances of winning the contract. Presenting your business as not only reliable and efficient, but also different and innovative can often be what separates your business from competitors. For example, does your waste service have a positive and adaptive eco-friendly policy? Or do you have specific cost-reducing procedures that will save money within the contract? Having an idea of what makes your business stand out against others is a great idea, and you can learn more about how to do so in our blog: ‘Knowing your USPs’.
Finally, from experience with hundreds of tenders, we know the importance of visuals and the difference they can make within a tender response (when their use is permitted!). Using visual diagrams and photographs is a good idea, as they can make your business more memorable for a buyer and give your tender a more unique feel. As said previously, standing out against the competition is crucial, and using visuals can be a great way of doing this. If you have further questions, or just want to learn more about this, have a look at our blog: ‘The Benefits of Including Graphics and Pictures in Your Tender Responses’.
Please contact us for any tender-related help or queries on admin@tendervictoy.co.uk or call 07971 526587.