WRAP’s Gate Fees Report: comparing the cost of alternative waste treatment options (2014/15) shows that fees remain relatively constant for most waste treatment and disposal options, with gate fees at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) and Energy from Waste facilities (EfW) differing the most from the previous annual assessment.

Based on information from local authorities and waste treatment companies, the report presents the median and range of gate fees for a variety of recycling and waste treatment options.

The median gate fee paid by authorities for MRF services is £6 per tonne in 2015, less than the median of £10 in 2014*. The range of gate fees at MRFs is much wider than for other services, and while some local authorities report receiving as much as £43 per tonne in income for their unsorted materials, others report paying up to £86 per tonne to their MRF.  A total of 33 local authorities (40%) reported that they either pay no gate fee, or receive payment from the MRF for their material.

Looking to the future, the majority of local authorities questioned (65% or 99 local authorities) said they expected MRF gate fees to increase. The factors cited for this were market prices for sale of recovered materials and the quality of input material.

Marcus Gover, Director WRAP said, "Finding a clear picture of treatment costs in the UK is a difficult task.  Our gate fees report highlights how variable charges are for waste management options, and how difficult this market can be to navigate without help.  In a time when budgets are stretched, and with the backdrop of a more volatile market for secondary materials, our gate fees report remains a key resource authorities can use to help inform local decisions.”

Gate fees for organics and composting remain in line with previous years.  The median gate fee for Open Air Windrow (OAW) composting for green waste remains at £24 per tonne, unchanged from the previous two surveys.  The median In-Vessel Composting (IVC) gate fee for mixed food and green waste is also unchanged from the last two surveys, standing at £46 per tonne.  While the median charge paid by local authorities for food waste treated at Anaerobic Digestion (AD) facilities stays at £40 per tonne.  Feedback from AD operators indicates that gate fees for food waste from commercial and industrial sources are below those charged for household food waste.

There has been a marginal rise in the median gate fee paid for recycling and recovery of waste wood (all grades) collected at Household Waste Recycling Centres – up £3 to £35 per tonne.  A similar small rise has been noted in the treatment of waste at Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facilities, up to £88 per tonne compared to £84 in the previous survey.

The largest increase in median gate fees is seen in EfW facilities constructed before 2000.  Here fees have risen to £73 per tonne, up from £58.  WRAP believes this difference is due to it receiving more responses for pre-2000 facilities in this year’s survey than in the last.  The median EfW gate fee for facilities constructed after 2000 is £99 per tonne, up £5 per tonne on last year.