Sources Sought Notice: Comprehensive Waste Management Services

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is conducting a market research Sources Sought Notice to identify qualified contractors for comprehensive waste management services at its Bethesda, Maryland campus and the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, Maryland. The services required include collection, transportation, and disposal of non-hazardous solid waste, medical pathological waste, recyclable materials, and construction/demolition debris. Contractors must demonstrate the capability to self-perform all services, including operation and maintenance of contractor-furnished equipment such as compactors, dumpsters, and roll-off containers. The contractor must support a large container fleet and maintain sophisticated data management systems capable of generating thousands of monthly data points to track waste diversion and operational metrics. Small business concerns interested in this opportunity must submit a capability statement not exceeding 10 pages by February 20, 2026, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time to Brian Baek at brian.baek@nih.gov, with responses addressing organizational ability, relevant experience, and references to prior similar contracts.

This procurement is not designated as a small business set-aside, though the Sources Sought Notice specifically seeks input from small business socio-economic concerns. No incumbent contractor is identified in this pre-solicitation notice. The anticipated contract is structured as a single or multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) with firm fixed pricing and task orders, covering a one-year base period with four optional years, and falls under NAICS code 562111 (Solid Waste Collection) with a $35.5 million size standard. The scope encompasses management of approximately 2,970 tons of solid waste annually, 2,100 tons of recyclables, and 5,100 tons of construction debris, with a monthly container pull average of 65 for solid waste, 88 for recycling, and 122 for construction debris. The successful contractor will need to maintain a fleet of approximately 25 thirty-yard compactors, 77 thirty-yard open-top dumpsters, and various front-end dumpsters to support the high-volume operations at these secure research and medical campuses.