Gate fees at many Materials Recover Facilities (MRF) and Anaerobic
Digestion (AD) facilities have fallen over the past year, according to
the Waste & Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP) fourth annual Gate
Fees Report.



WRAP interviewed a range of local authorities and MRF operators to
gather feedback for this research, which it says highlights that a
growing number of local authorities are receiving payment (or being
charged zero gate fees) for their recovered materials.



The report found that median gate fees at MRF facilities have fallen to
£15 per tonne, or just £4 per tonne for contracts started in 2010 or
later and some reports of negative gates fees at MRFs going as high as
£36 per tonne.



Key Findings:



Gate fees for similar waste management options vary substantially, both
across and within regions. Notwithstanding these variations, the
summary information from the survey indicates that:

• Median gate fees for waste href=”http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/recycling.html”
  target=”_blank”>recycling options are substantially lower than
  those for waste disposal routes


• For organics treatment facilities, open-air windrow (OAW) median
  gate fees are lower than those for anaerobic digestion (AD) and
  in-vessel composting (IV). These, in turn, are lower than median gate
  fees at mechanical href=”http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/biological-treatment.html”
  target=”_blank”>biological treatment (MBT) facilities


• The median AD gate fee for separate food waste, is lower than the
  median IV gate fee for food only, but is comparable to the IV gate fee
  for mixed food and garden waste


• Landfill gate fees including the landfill tax are broadly
  comparable to gate fees for href=”http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/waste-to-energy.html”
  target=”_blank”>waste to energy and MBT.

Marcus Gover, director of closed loop economy at WRAP explained that
the message in the Gate Fees Report is that there are cost-effective
waste management options other than landfill which also deliver greater
environmental benefits.



“We have seen a substantial decrease in MRF gate fees since the
previous report, with some local authorities telling us that they are
now receiving revenues of up to £15 to £20 per tonne for their
recovered materials, rather than being charged gate fees. This reflects
the additional MRF capacity in the href=”http://www.waste-management-world.com/index/markets-policy-and-finance.html”
target=”_blank”>market, and buoyant recovered material prices.



“Another notable change compared with last year’s report is that the
median gate fee for AD has dropped considerably - by around £13 per
tonne. Indeed, several operators questioned indicated that they felt
that AD gate fees might fall further. However, as the AD industry is
still relatively young this finding is based on quite a small sample
and so does need to be treated with some caution,” Gover added.