Scotland Excel has published a contract notice for Treatment and Disposal of Recyclable and Residual Waste set up as a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), with an estimated total value of £200,000,000 (ex VAT) and 22 lots covering everything from co-mingled recyclate and glass through to tyres, oils, street sweepings and residual waste.
Crucially for suppliers, the notice states there is no intention to limit the minimum and maximum number of service providers, and the DPS is open to entrants throughout its life (provided you meet the selection criteria and aren’t excluded). The current validity period has been extended to 12 February 2029, and the time limit for requests to participate aligns to the same date.
For operators in waste treatment, recycling, energy recovery, transfer, specialist disposal, and related logistics, that combination is rare: high value + broad scope + ongoing access.
What this DPS is trying to buy
The DPS is seeking treatment and/or disposal services for a “host of material streams” typically arising from households, council commercial collections, and household waste recycling centres.
The lot list is extensive (22 in total). Examples include:
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co-mingled mixed recyclate (Lot 1)
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paper/card/news and PAMs (Lot 2)
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glass, cans, mixed plastics, rigid plastics (Lots 3–6)
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wood, textiles, MRF outputs/offtakes, bulky waste, inert waste, plasterboard (multiple lots)
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gas bottles, tyres, “special waste”, street sweepings/gully waste, leachate/interceptor waste, engine oil/hydraulic fluid, cooking oils/fats, residual waste
Place of performance is throughout Scotland, and Scotland Excel is acting as a central purchasing body for Scottish local authorities and associate members.
Why a DPS changes your approach (compared to a framework)
A DPS is not a single, fixed panel you either “get on” or “miss”. Two details in the notice make that clear:
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It’s a two-stage process.
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New suppliers can join at any point during its life, assuming they meet the criteria.
So the goal is usually twofold:
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Get admitted to the DPS for the lots you genuinely deliver.
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Win call-off competitions (which may vary by council, geography, material stream, and operational constraints).
That second part is where most of the revenue sits, and where your positioning starts to matter.
Picking lots: go narrower than you think (then expand)
With 22 lots, it’s tempting to tick everything that sounds adjacent to your services. A better strategy is:
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start with the streams where you have the strongest permitting story, proven end destinations, and robust auditable chain of custody
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ensure your capability aligns to what councils actually need (volumes fluctuate, contamination happens, and the “hard” part is what you do when it does)
Then expand to adjacent lots once you’ve built a clean, repeatable submission pack.
Evaluation clues suppliers often miss
This procurement is run as a restricted procedure establishing a DPS. The notice also signals that award criteria weightings can be price-heavy, with an indicative range of Price: 60–85% and Technical: 15–40% (shown within the lot sections).
Even when price is weighted heavily, councils still need confidence on:
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compliance and legal disposal routes
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operational resilience (capacity, contingency)
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reporting and auditability
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health & safety, environmental management, and service standards
In practice, suppliers who win consistently are the ones who make those assurances easy to evidence and easy to mark.
Four practical actions to take before you apply
1) Build a “proof pack” per material stream
For each lot you target, assemble a small, repeatable set of evidence:
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environmental permits / licences relevant to the process and destination
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end-market information and how you manage rejections/contamination
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how you weigh, sample, report and audit
2) Be explicit about logistics and interfaces
Councils may require collection of bulked material in some lots (MRF offtakes/offtakes are a common example).
Be clear on:
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what you provide (haulage, containers, bulking points)
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what you assume the authority provides
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how you handle service disruption, site constraints and seasonal peaks
3) Translate compliance into plain English
Evaluators aren’t there to infer. Spell out:
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how your process meets regulatory expectations
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how you prevent “non-compliant diversion” risk
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what your exception process looks like when something goes wrong
4) Get ready for the long game
This DPS stays open until February 2029. That means you can treat admission as the start of an ongoing pipeline, if you have the internal rhythm for tracking call-offs, responding quickly, and continuously refreshing evidence and pricing.
How Thornton & Lowe helps suppliers win work from DPS and framework routes
Waste and environmental services competitions can be deceptively technical: a supplier can be excellent operationally, but lose because the submission doesn’t make compliance, risk controls and value obvious to an evaluator.
Thornton & Lowe helps suppliers turn operational capability into a clear, compliant bid response, tightening the structure, strengthening evidence, and reducing avoidable errors through bid writing services. When you’re building a pipeline across multiple buying routes, a strong understanding of how framework agreements and DPS-style competitions convert into call-off revenue also helps you prioritise effort and bid smarter.
Your next steps
If you want to explore this opportunity, start by reviewing the Find a Tender notice for Treatment and Disposal of Recyclable and Residual Waste and shortlist the lots that truly match your permits, processes and end destinations.
If you’d like support getting admitted efficiently and positioning for call-off wins, Thornton & Lowe can help you shape your lot strategy, build a scoreable evidence pack, and quality-assure your submission before it goes in.
