LAWR

NEWS August 2015 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 5 FOR MORE NEWS AND ANALYSIS VISIT www.edie.net /waste Bright outlook for European EfW operators Knowledge transfer collaboration A Welsh-based partnership has been formed to explore the future of large-scale waste removal and recycling. Construction recycler Stenor Environmental Services has signed up to a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Local authorities predict future rise in MRF gate fees Most local authorities expect gate fees for material recovery facilities (MRFs) to increase in the future due to falling values in recovered materials, plus an increasing emphasis on higher quality inputs from MRF operators. According to the Waste & Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) Gate Fees 2014/15 report, the majority of local authorities questioned (65% or 99 councils) said they expected MRF gate fees to rise. 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 survey found that the range of gate fees at MRFs is much wider than for other services. 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. Meanwhile the largest increase in median gate fees is seen in energy-from-waste (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. Elsewhere gate fees have Energy-from-waste (EfW) operators across Europe are reporting positive trading conditions according to an industry survey from German consultancy firm ecoprog. The research, which is supported by the Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP), found that the business climate index in the thermal waste recovery market has increased considerably during 2015. Those plant operators surveyed considered both current and future business prospects as positive with L-R: UWTSD's Simon Jenkins and Dr Tony Thomas with Stenor's Colin Davies and Carile Williams two-thirds reporting increasing demand on the spot market for municipal waste. For one-third of facilities, utilisation is also higher compared to 12 months ago. When asked about future expectations, around 40% of operators anticipated business to improve and prices to increase. According to ecoprog CEO Mark Döing, waste imports from Great Britain, Ireland and Italy have resulted in increasing waste amounts and thus improved business for plant operators. remained relatively constant for most waste treatment and disposal options – organics and composting remain in line with previous years. The median gate fee for open air windrow composting for green waste remains at £24 per tonne, unchanged from the previous two surveys. The median in-vessel composting 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 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. Commenting on the findings, WRAP director Marcus Gover said: "Finding a clear picture of treatment costs in the UK is a difficult task. Our report highlights how variable charges are for waste management options, and how difficult this market can be to navigate without help." More than 70 municipal disposal contracts to be awarded by 2017 Local authorities are planning to award 71 contracts for waste disposal before the end of 2017, according to new analysis from BDS Marketing Research. Most of these waste disposal contracts will be let in 2016, when 44 contracts are expected to be awarded, including those at Bradford, Clyde Valley, Westminster and Forth councils. The BDS report also found that FCC Environment holds the largest number of waste disposal contracts currently. FCC, together with Veolia, Viridor and SUEZ Environnement operate just over half of all current contracts, according to the study. Despite this, BDS' principal consultant, Julian Clapp, said it was a competitive market. "We identified over 60 contracts managed by smaller businesses or in-house by local authorities. Waste is increasingly disposed of at capital-intensive waste facilities rather than landfill."

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