Central Highlands Regional Council

RFQ260044

Wednesday 29 April 2026 (E. Australia Standard Time)

Friday 29 May 2026 05:00 PM (E. Australia Standard Time) CLOSED

Friday 22 May 2026 05:00 PM (E. Australia Standard Time)

Friday 05 June 2026 (E. Australia Standard Time)

Central Highlands Regional Council

14 Glasson St
Emerald, Queensland 4720
Australia

https://www.centralhighlands.qld.gov.au/

The Central Highlands region is in Central Queensland, Australia. The region encompasses an area of around 60 000 square kilometres, making it just short of the size of Tasmania.

It is home to around 30 000 people who live in the thirteen unique communities of Arcadia Valley, Bauhinia, Blackwater, Bluff, Capella, Comet, Dingo, Duaringa, Emerald, Rolleston, Sapphire Gemfields, Springsure and Tieri.

Our region is rich in minerals and agriculture, thriving on irrigation sourced from water storage on the Nogoa and Comet rivers. We claim the largest sapphire-producing fields in the Southern Hemisphere.

Major freight routes through the region include the north-south link between Charters Towers and northern New South Wales—identified as the inland transport alternative between Cairns and Melbourne.

The buyer has elected to have their personal and contact details hidden. These details will be revealed at the buyers discretion.

Central Highlands Regional Council (CHRC) is seeking quotations from suitably qualified providers to undertake a kerbside waste and recycling composition audit across the Central Highlands region in Queensland.

The audit will assess the composition of:

- domestic kerbside general waste, and

- domestic kerbside commingled recycling streams.

The objective is to generate current, statistically robust and defensible data to support:

- waste management planning

- recycling contamination reduction

- regional behaviour change and education initiatives

- improved resource recovery outcomes.

The audit must be undertaken in accordance with recognised Australian waste auditing practices and align with regional audit guidelines developed through CQROC. This includes:

- representative sampling across key communities (including Emerald, Blackwater, Capella and the Gemfields)

- stratified sampling across defined zones and dwelling types (including multi-unit dwellings)

- statistically valid sample sizes and defensible methodology.

The scope of services includes:

- development and agreement of audit methodology and sampling framework

- coordination with Council and the kerbside collection contractor

- collection, sorting and classification of waste into prescribed categories

- recording and analysis of composition, contamination and recovery data

- preparation of draft and final reports, including actionable insights

- presentation of findings to Council officers and stakeholders.

Suppliers must also manage resident communications (including authority letters), and comply with all privacy, confidentiality and work health and safety requirements.

Location: Audit and sorting activities will occur within the Central Highlands Regional Council area. Specific locations will be confirmed with the successful supplier.

Timing: The audit is expected to commence following contract award (June 2026), with field work and reporting delivered in accordance with the project schedule outlined in the RFQ, with completion by September 2026.

Suppliers must demonstrate relevant experience in municipal waste composition audits and propose a methodology that is statistically robust, practical to deliver, and capable of generating insights to inform Council’s waste education and behaviour change programs.

Central Highlands Regional Council provides domestic kerbside waste and recycling collection services across multiple communities, including Emerald, Blackwater, Capella, Springsure and Tieri.

A kerbside waste composition audit was last undertaken in 2022. Since that time, changes in waste generation patterns, packaging and recycling behaviours necessitate updated, reliable data to support Council’s waste management planning, contamination reduction initiatives, and regional behaviour change programs.

The audit must be designed and delivered in a manner that is fully integrated with Council’s existing kerbside collection operations. This includes:

- coordination with Council and the kerbside collection contractor to identify suitable collection routes and sampling locations

- undertaking sampling prior to scheduled collection to ensure representative results

- ensuring safe access to waste materials and appropriate traffic and site management

- minimising disruption to standard collection services.

The audit methodology must align with relevant regional and industry guidelines, including the CQROC-aligned audit framework, and must:

- ensure representative sampling across the Central Highlands region

- reflect differences in community profiles, service areas and dwelling types (including multi-unit dwellings)

- avoid selection bias and produce statistically defensible results.

The successful supplier will also be responsible for managing resident interface requirements, including preparation of resident authority letters and compliance with privacy and confidentiality obligations. All communications must be coordinated with Council.

Suppliers must demonstrate experience in delivering municipal waste composition audits and apply methodologies consistent with recognised Australian waste auditing practices, supported by appropriate quality assurance processes.

Project outputs must provide:

- accurate waste composition and contamination data for both waste streams

- identification of recoverable materials and key contamination drivers

- insights that directly inform Council’s waste education and behaviour change initiatives.

1. Desired Outcomes (Nice to Haves)

Council will favour proposals that demonstrate additional value beyond the core requirements, including:

- Development of high-quality visual outputs (e.g. infographics, dashboards or communication-ready graphics) suitable for direct use in community education and behaviour change campaigns.

- Advanced analytical insights, such as segmentation of contamination drivers, behavioural patterns, or identification of priority intervention areas.

- Enhanced benchmarking against comparable councils, regions or industry datasets, with clear interpretation of implications for CHRC.

- Innovative approaches to data capture, validation or reporting that improve accuracy, efficiency or usability of results.

2. Conditions / Service Expectations

- The supplier must coordinate closely with Council and the kerbside collection contractor to plan and execute sampling activities, including route selection, timing, and access to waste materials.

- All field activities must be undertaken safely and in compliance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld), including implementation of appropriate risk assessments, PPE, and traffic management controls.

- Waste sorting and sampling activities must be planned and executed to minimise disruption to normal kerbside collection services.

- The supplier is responsible for managing all site, operational and logistical requirements necessary to complete the audit, including access to suitable sorting areas and weighing facilities.

- All resident communications and authority letters must be coordinated with and approved by Council prior to distribution.

3. Service Levels / Project Expectations

- The supplier must provide a detailed project schedule at inception, including key milestones for methodology confirmation, field work, draft reporting and final reporting.

- Regular project updates must be provided to Council, with frequency agreed at project commencement (minimum fortnightly during active phases).

- The draft report must be submitted within the agreed timeframe following completion of field work, and the final report must incorporate Council feedback within agreed review periods.

- All data and reporting outputs must be complete, accurate, internally consistent, and suitable for direct use in strategic planning and public-facing education materials.

- The supplier must respond to Council queries and requests for clarification within agreed timeframes throughout the project.

• Queensland
  1: Fitzroy

All Regions of Service locations are within Australia.

Please note: The following addendum has been recently added.

1. Added: (Addendum) RFQ260044_Clarification_Response_No1.pdf

Please consider this addendum when responding.