Derbyshire Dales District Council will meet on 14 March to begin the procurement process for a new waste and recycling contract.
The existing deal with Serco expires in August 2020.
The council faces the difficulties of providing services over a large, rural, sparsely populated area.
Derbyshire Dales covers around one-third of the county by area, encompassing five small towns and over 100 villages.
The cost to the council, which is currently £1.9m a year, is set to rise due to an increase in the cost of service provision and a reduction in the level of liability contractors are prepared to shoulder.
The council’s agenda says: “To procure a waste and recycling contract that continues to meet residents’ needs and statutory recycling targets, whilst meeting unavoidable affordability criteria, is a significant challenge.”
Soundings have been taken from seven interested bidders.
“All potential bidders were cautious around the inclusion of material management for dry mixed recycling and none of the potential bidders were willing to accept the council’s present liability arrangements (100% is with the contractor).”
