WRAP: Fewer councils receiving income from recycling

And, the resources charity’s annual gate fees report, which calculates the median and range of gate fees for a number of waste treatment options based on correspondence with local authorities and waste management companies, indicates that MRF gate fees are expected to continue to rise in the future.

The ninth edition of the report, which covers the period 2015/16, suggests that the median gate fee paid by local authorities for MRF services is £25 per tonne in 2016, whilst in 2015, the median MRF gate fee was £6 per tonne.

WRAP adds that the range  of gate fees at MRFs is much wider than for other technologies, and while some local authorities report receiving as much as £62 per tonne in income for their materials, others report paying up to £89 per tonne to their MRF.

MRF

A total of 30 local authorities out of the 122 polled reported that they either pay no gate fee, or receive payment from the MRF for their materials, compared with 46% last year. 98 councils polled also claimed that they expect MRF gates fees to continue to increase in future – based on market prices for sale of recovered materials and the quality of input material.

Elsewhere, WRAP has claimed that gate fees for other treatment facilities have remained broadly stable.

According to the report, the median gate fee for open air windrow composting of green waste has stayed at £24 per tonne, unchanged from the previous three surveys.

The median in-vessel composting (IVC) gate fee for mixed food and green waste is slightly higher than last year, standing at £47 per tonne compared with £46 per tonne the previous two years.

For anaerobic digestion the median charge paid by local authorities for collected household food waste treated has remained static at £40-per tonne. However, WRAP notes that due to recent market changes, particularly in England the overall range has expanded.

According to the report, some local authorities have indicated AD gate fees as low as £0 per tonne, and the median gate fee for contracts signed in 2014 or 2015 is down to £25 per tonne.