Mixed waste sent to landfill
A new tool has been developed to help local government and waste management centres calculate the 'real cost' of sending waste to landfill.
To achieve its Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery (WARR) targets for 2014, NSW needs to recover more resources from residual wastes that are sent to landfill.
The Full Cost of Landfill Calculator provides a mechanism for councils to calculate a baseline figure for the 'real cost' of sending waste to landfill. In addition, the tool also enables this cost to be quantified and reported in terms of dollars per tonne, dollars per cubic metre or as an annual cost for the selected financial year.
The calculator can help councils:
- enhance their waste and resource recovery decision-making processes
- determine landfill charges that adequately cover costs
- plan for landfill replacement
- explore resource recovery alternatives
- assess carbon management options
- justify budget requests.
A unique feature of the calculator is its ability to calculate the social cost of carbon, which is based on an estimate of methane emissions.
The range of information that can be entered into the calculator includes:
- site details such as landfill age, capacity and throughput
- direct financial costs such as operating and administration costs, overheads and major capital expenditure
- the net costs of any resource recovery activities on the site
- other financial costs which includes post-operating costs and site value
- the option to enter a waste levy value and to calculate the potential financial liability of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme using methane emissions.
Further information
Councils can: