For several decades, municipalities, state institutions and industry have been conducting so-called tenders for various projects and contracts. These tenders are also used to find a partner for the recovery or recycling of secondary raw materials. In this essay I will explain why the process of a classical tender of secondary raw materials an outdated method is.
The municipalities and the industry have introduced tenders so that every person and every interested party has the same, fair right to obtain the contract. In principle, any company or person can participate in the tender.
The classic tendering process gives the impression that every interested party and every bid submitted will be considered, but often it has already been decided in advance who will receive the contract. The tendering process is usually a mere formality.
So-called nepotism is often practiced, or the politicians or purchasers have a share in the profits of the projects. One hears again and again of bribery trials and charges against politicians and purchasers who have tried to enrich themselves in this way.
In addition, the tendering process is always very lengthy and time-consuming. First, the municipality or the company must recognize that there is a waste problem at all and that a solution is necessary. Then a concept is worked out by the municipality or the company itself and a tender is issued for it. The invitation to tender must of course be made public for some time so that all interested parties have the opportunity to submit their offer. After the deadline has expired, the municipality or company then examines each individual offer and either the best applicants are asked to take part in another call for bids or an interested party receives approval for the project. Thus, far too much time passes before the project can finally be tackled.
Politicians and purchasers often prepare tenders for the recovery or recycling of secondary raw materials without having more detailed information on the subject. Since they lack expert knowledge, they often miss approaches to solutions that would be obvious to an expert and wrong decisions are made.
Thus, only concepts are created that are a solution in the short term but do not eliminate the cause of the problem. The problem will therefore arise again and again in the future, and one cannot speak of sustainability.
Furthermore, the interested party can only offer what is explicitly requested by the municipality or the company in the tender. Thus, it is not possible for the bidders to propose optimizations and other approaches to solutions.
Unfortunately, the municipalities and the industry are often not interested in optimizations and sustainable solutions. They want a short-term and quick solution to their waste problem with a s little effort as possible.
Due to the lack of expertise, tenders are often awarded to people who themselves have no idea about sustainable systems for secondary raw materials. It does not count who has the best and most sustainable idea. The tender is won by the person who has the cheapest price and/or the best relationship with politicians or buyers.
The same suppliers and interested parties always apply for the tenders. Often, there are a handful of companies that always get the nod, and there are no new competitors. The politicians or buyers like to award the contracts to companies or people they already know. They are very skeptical of new applicants and suppliers and often make the application process more difficult for them.
Due to this approach and the few competitors, unfortunately no change or improvement can be achieved. The same system is used that has been used for several decades.
The idea behind the tender, namely that no nepotism can be practiced and that the best wins the tender, is very noble, but unfortunately not feasible in reality. The politicians or purchasers are often bribed or make the wrong decision due to a lack of expertise. IN addition, the bureaucracy is far too high and the process far too lengthy. It is simply not possible to achieve improvements and sustainable solutions. The concept of classic tendering is simply too outdated, and the municipalities and the industry must create a new system for secondary raw materials in order to allow renewals.
For us, the tendering process is considered outdated because it offers only a very short solution to the problems of the communities and the industry. The ideas and concepts of the suppliers are often not designed in a sustainable way, no renewals or improvements can be introduced, and they only want to earn as much money as possible or achieve savings.
The communities and the industry see the secondary raw materials only as waste or problem. We, on the other hand, see them for what they are, raw materials that can be sold at a profit and should be put back into the raw material cycle. Our view and way of thinking about scrap and waste is that we are looking for an optimization or improvement of the processes or even a better utilization of the raw materials.
Our concepts are based on long-term and environmentally friendly solution.
The guiding principle of our company is to close the raw material cycle. For a sustainable and clean environment.