Gate fee

Croezen and Sas (a.4) have published an extensive LCA for treatment of MPW with the Texaco process. There is a detailed discussion on inputs and emissions there. No specific problems with emissions control were mentioned by these authors. As for cost performance, detailed data of the cost structure have not been made public. The general figure circulating for the likely gate fee of the Texaco process is 90 to 135 per tonne for a 50 ktonne/year plant, decreasing to 50/tonne for a 200 ktonne/year plant. 

The cost of treatment to process one tonne is difficult to define since it depends on many factors such as scale, location, scope, preparation stages, and economic parameters used. As a rough example, for a 25,000 tpa plant in Western Europe (1998 prices), BP estimated the investment to be 15 to 20 million. This would imply a gate fee of around 172 per tonne (some 250). For a 50,000 tpa plant the gate fee could be 100 per tonne (some 150).These figures are net, i.e., include product values but exclude collection and preparation. 

As for processing costs, the BASF process would require a gate fee of 160 per tonne for a... 

As is the case for most other processes reviewed here, no detailed cost data are given by the firm that operates the process. It seems that the gate fee is around 250 Euro per toime (compare also a. 13). 

According to Pohle (a.l3), the gate fee for a 250,000 tpa plant using a similar technology would be 250 per tonne. Informal information from circles within the PVC industry suggest even higher gate fees for PVC (up to 350 to 500). 

As for a gate fee, estimates are difficult to give. Costs are dominated by the investment costs, which Akzo estimates at 25 million for a 50,000 tpa plant. There exists a large uncertainty in this estimate. For instance, if the feed also included brominated or fluorinated compounds, extra cleaning steps would be needed which would greatly enhance the investment. It is simply too early to give a good estimate of costs per toime for treatment. 

As for costs, ECVM estimates that considering all costs the total gate fee must be around 200 per toime to break even for a 25,000 tpa plant. For pretreatment like grinding another 125 per toime might be needed. However, it is clear that reliable estimates can only be given after experience with the pilot plant has been evaluated. 

Netherlands (high ground water level, soft soil), a price of some 50 per tonne is enough to realise a controlled landfill (including aftercare systems). The gate fee of mechanical recycling processes depends very much on the type of plastic and type of mechanical recycling and cannot be specified here. 

Table 3 A review of technical aspects and gate fees for MPW treatment options (excluding collection/pretreatment) ...

Process Input Max. input Cl Gate fee ( ) Excl. collection /pretreatment (gate fee for a large scale plant in brackets) Status Products/fate 1. Organic fraction 2. Chlorine 3. Metals Capacity Future potential Remarks... 

A feasibility study has been earried out by EPI Asia on behalf of PACOA s Plastics Environment Council into the viability of energy recovery from municipal waste. It is claimed to have demonstrated that a 250,000 tpa plant processing from a population catchment of 500,000, would generate a new 15M We of electricity, and that given a gate fee of 50 Australian dollars per tonne for delivered waste, and power sales of 6 cents per Kwh, the plant would be viable. The recycling process is described. 

Total costs may be reduced by charging gate fees for the acceptance of mixed plastic waste or municipal solid waste as feedstock or from the sale of treatment products such as the syngas or ammonium chloride (D19926C, p. 17 D199013, p. 3 D10958K, pp. 47, 51). 

Processing plastic waste by the BASF process would have required a gate fee of 160 /tonne for a plant with a capacity of 300000 tonne/yr and a fee of 250 /tonne for a plant capacity of 150000 tonne/yr [15]. 

The cost of treatment depends on many factors such as scale, location, scope, required preparation stages, and economic parameters used. Hence, comparison of the processes is difficult. The investment costs of a plant of 25 000 tpa, located in Western Europe in 1998, were estimated as 15-20 M . Under these conditions, a gate fee of some 250 /tonne is necessary. For a 50000-tpa plant this gate fee could be some 150 /tonne. These hgures exclude the cost of collection and of preparation. 

Specific quantities of feedstock, of a defined quality, are to be made available under specified conditions at a particular price. A gate fee ie a payment from the feedstock supplier to the project company is generally paid in the case of a project in which the disposal of a waste (eg a by-product from a food processing industry) is a fundamental purpose of the project. Some form of put or pay arrangement is generally included in the contract in such circumstances. 

Diversity of supplier is generally desirable, whether there is a gate fee payable by the supplier or the feedstock has to be paid for by the project company, so as to mitigate the risk of a single supplier going out of business. The duration of the fuel supply agreement usually exceeds the term of the finance. 

The benefits of a co-gasification technology involving coal and biomass include the use of a reliable coal supply with gate-fee waste and biomass which allows the economies of scale from a larger plant than could be supplied just with waste and biomass. 

Dennison and Mennicken [8] provide an authorative update on plastics recycling in Europe, and summarise mechanical and feedstock recycling, and various types of energy recovery. Most importantly the gate fee subsidies n ed to make each process a stand alone viable business are summarised. 

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