MRC adopted its 2013-14 budget last month (June), which included an increase in gate fees from $137 per tonne to $149 per tonne for the cities of Joondalup, Wanneroo, Stirling, Perth and Vincent, and the towns of Cambridge and Victoria Park.
In the coming year, the council expects to receive about 270,994 tonnes of waste from its members, including 73,000 from the City of Stirling.
‘The revenue and costs associated with these additional tonnes are taken into account in the budget,’ a report to the council said.
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READ NOW‘However, given the contentious nature of these tonnes, they have not been taken into account in setting the members’ gate fee.’
Of all the members’ waste, about 100,000 tonnes should go to the resource recovery facility in Neerabup, which will in turn generate 48,700 tonnes of residue to go to landfill, while the remainder is turned in to compost.
Gate fees for non-members, such as businesses that deliver waste to the Tamala Park landfill site, will be marginally lower at $150.91, a decision made because non-member tonnes received in the past year had been below expectations, according to the June 20 agenda.
‘Non-member tonnes had been budgeted at 53,000 tonnes for the year, but in reality the actual result for the 2012-13 financial year is likely to be closer to 40,000 tonnes,’ a report said.
‘Keeping the non-members’ fee static is part of a strategy to ensure that we do not drop below the 40,000 non-member tonnes forecast for 2013-14.’
The report said MRC planned two significant infrastructure projects in June 2014, namely the $6 million purchase of a new landfill site, and construction of a |$4 million sorting shed .
It also said significant cost increases included a 6 per cent ($260,996) rise in employee costs, 32 per cent (259,900) hike in landfill expenses, 10 per cent ($97,000) increase in operating and hire costs, and 7 per cent ($1.56 million) rise in the resource recovery facility costs.
Insurance costs had increased by 64 per cent and cell development costs by 64 per cent.