According to a recent WRAP report, municipal recycling facility (MRF) gate fees are set to increase as material prices reduce.
The WRAP Gate Fees Report described that across the spectrum of wastes accepted by MRFs there was an average gate fee of £25 per tonne. This was an increase from 2015 figures of £6 per tonne.
A contributing factor to the MRF gate fee increase was the reduced costs of materials. The price of steel and aluminium cans dropped 86% and 40% respectively between January 2015 and January 2016. Similarly plastic bottles prices dropped by 39% over the same period.
These implications mean that recycling steel, particularly drums which formerly had residual value, are now subject to higher gate fee charges therefore economically it is more cost effective to buy new rather than reconditioned drums.
Last year wood waste had an average gate fee of £35 per tonne, ranging between -£5 and £82.
As discussed in our blog about wood skip charges, it is currently an average of £230 per tonne to collect wood waste by skip. This cost is surely a contributing factor for businesses to look for economic and environmental disposal solutions.
If you have wooden packaging waste and you aim to reduce disposal costs whilst applying the most environmental handling option, give RPS a call for further details.
