The majority pay and the majority make use of the Council's waste disposal services. We never know when and where and if we are going to use many of the other services that we would like there to be enough money for. As a matter of interest here is something about the price of compost from Let's Recycle: "Price rise predicted for compost 15-04-2008Demand for compost could increase following an unprecedented rise in the cost of chemical based fertilisers, a WRAP study has claimed.Increasing fertiliser costs could drive demand for compost in agricultureAccording to the "Realising the value of organic waste" report published this week, prices for fertiliser and soil improver rose by a staggering 50 per cent in 2007, and are now at "historically high levels". This has been driven in part by an increase in the price of natural gas which is the main feedstock of ammonia-based fertiliser, it explained.As a result, the Waste and Resource Action Programme believes that compost offers a cost savings to farmers as an alternative source of nitrogen - which could push up prices for the material. The report stated: "Prices for compost have been stable, but historically high prices for chemical fertilisers and soil improvers could support compost prices going forward.""Prices of chemical based fertilisers have risen sharply in recent months, which could lead to a further increase in agricultural demand for organic fertilisers," it added.Currently, WRAP estimates that compost sells for around £5 per tonne but this is offset by the costs of spreading, which range from £1 to £3 per tonne.If prices rose, this could significantly add to the £90 million turned over by the industry in 2006/06. GrowthFood waste collections are expected to increase in the UK.As markets for compost develop, the WRAP study reported a 20 per cent growth in the amount of organic waste composted since 2005/06 and predicted the trend would continue as councils realised the economic benefits of diverting waste from landfill. Conditions are ripe for the sector to expand thanks to EU Landfill Directive, which demands that five million tonnes of municipal organic waste will need to be composted by 2012/13. Councils are also directing as much waste as possible from landfill due to the recent rise in Landfill tax from £24 to £32 a tonne in April (see letsrecycle.com story) .WRAP said: "Compost producers are aware of the need to respond to this increase in demand and have indicated that- subject to the right economic conditions - they could add around two million tonnes of new capacity over the next five years."Specifically, WRAP expects composting of food waste to increase significantly. Garden waste collections already pick up 95 per cent of waste produced in the UK, which has rapidly increased over the past three years.The report said: "As the capture rate for garden waste is now over 50 per cent, it is likely that growth in garden waste collections will slow over the next few years.""By contrast, food waste collections (either separate or mixed with garden waste) are likely to continue to grow rapidly, as local authorities look to target what is the largest remaining fraction of the residual waste stream," it added.At present, less than five per cent of municipal food waste is currently recovered and processed, but the number of local authorities offering or trialling food waste collections has increased sharply, albeit from a small base, with about 250,000 tonnes of food waste were recovered for processing in 2006/07.The report suggests that sending waste to be composted at special facilities, in addition to encouraging home composting, could divert an additional one millions tonnes of organic waste from landfill over the next five years.InnovationOne of the technologies which WRAP and the government is promoting is anaerobic digestion (see letsrecycle.com story), which is the process of breaking down food waste through bacteria in the absence of air.At present, there are fewer than ten AD facilities that currently accept municipal food waste in the UK, with recent estimates suggesting that they may be processing up to 50,000 tonnes per annum of segregated municipal food waste and a further 60 sites are believed to be under consideration.WRAP suggests that AD treatment of separately collected food waste may be more cost effective than in-vessel composting of mixed food and garden waste for some local authorities, despite the higher capital costs of AD systems and the higher collection costs associated with collecting food waste separately.This is due to the potentially high disposal fees for composting mixed green and food waste in an In-Vessel Composting system, the money raised by the sale of biogas produced during AD, and because higher capacity utilisation can be achieved with AD as there is less seasonal variation with food waste than garden waste. Related linksWRAP reportIt also indicated that AD may be more beneficial for the environment than other composting techniques. However, the report claimed that the technology was not suitable for every local authority.It said: "AD is not a panacea, however, and it will not be suitable for all local authorities. The feedstocks to AD need to be managed much more closely than those for IVC to ensure that the anaerobic decomposition is not compromised. The costs and time associated with obtaining permits and grid connections can be high. A further disadvantage is that AD requires households to have an additional container for food waste.""
Philippa Bond ● 6710d