Focusing on composting and mechanical biological treatment (MBT) all facilities permitted in 2012 from EA, SEPA and NIEA records, will be contacted to answer the survey questions. This year, the survey of Anaerobic Digestion facilities is being carried out by BDS Market Research as part of their annual update of the WRAP/NNFCC Biogas Plant Map. For more details see their website by clicking here.

Initially each site will be called to arrange a date and time for the survey itself, when a trained and experienced surveyor will call to run through the survey in detail. This allows each interviewee to prepare for the survey itself, and this approach worked particularly well for last year's survey.

Appointment booking calls started in the middle of February 2013 and the survey itself will run from the end of February until Easter.

To help prepare for the survey interview itself, the questions asked for each facility type are summarised below. The responses required are a mixture of qualitative and quantitative, and accurate and complete responses will ensure that an accurate picture of the industry will be generated. The surveyors will therefore request that all those interviewed give as complete and accurate responses as possible.

For Composting (including IVC) Facilities

Q1. When did the site become operational? 

Q2. In 2010 was this site operating under an exemption, rather than a permit?  

Q3. How many people are employed at this site? (expressed as FTEs)

Q4. Taking into consideration planning, regulatory and physical constraints; what was the maximum working capacity of this site in 2012?

Q5. What type or types of process was the site operating in 2012? If more than one type were these processes used in series or in parallel or both?

Q6. What was the typical composting period? 

Q7. What types of pre-processing of feedstocks did you carry out in 2012?

Q8. What were the quantities (tonnes), sources and types of feedstock in 2012 (eg. food, green/garden material etc from local authority collections, agriculture, supermarkets etc)

Q9. What level of contamination do you typically find, per tonne? 

Q10. In 2012, approximately what percentage of your feedstock was sourced from the site at which the plant is located  , from other sites within the same business or from external sources? 

Q11. What was the quantity of compost produced in 2012 in tonnes? 

FOR SCOTTISH SITES ONLY: Please give the quantity of the compost you produced in each grade, in 2012.

Q12. Where was the compost that you produced in 2012 applied in tonne (eg. agriculture, horticulture etc) and what was the average selling ex-works price? 

Q13. Are you currently producing compost certified to PAS100?  

Q13a. Do you intend to maintain or obtain PAS certification?  If not, why not?

Q13b. Does the certification apply to all or only part of your output?

“Have your Say”

Q14. For each of a list of business issues, please say the extent to which it affects your composting operation – great effect, some effect, little or no effect?

Q15. Can you expand on this, or do you have anything further you would like to add, in terms of issues for your business?

For MBT Facilities

Note: we are interested in the processing of biodegradable materials only – although for MBT sites these will largely derive from mixed-waste sources.  If there is waste received on the site which has no biodegradable/organic fraction, that quantity should be excluded from any figures provided.

Q1. When did the site become operational? 

Q2. How many people are employed at this MBT plant ? (expressed as FTEs) 

Q3. What quantities of materials which included an organic fraction did you receive from each of the following sources in 2012?  Municipal sources and non-municipal sources (tonnes)

Q4. What type(s) of system was the site using in 2012 for treating organic material? 

Q4a. Do any of the systems process solely material that has not come through the MBT plant?  If ‘yes’, a separate questionnaire should be completed for that process/material, ensuring there is no double counting of inputs. if more than one type of system for processing organic material is the output from the different processes applied for different end-uses?  

Q5. What was the quantity, in tonnes, of each of type of output created through processing of the mechanically separated organic fraction of the waste treated in 2012? (eg dry recyclates, CLO, SRF/RDF, inerts etc). If the total of outputs is less than inputs what is the explanation e.g.  moisture loss of organic fraction

Q6. Did this site produce biogas in 2012?

Q7. For the CLO and RDF that you produced in 2012 what were the end uses?  (eg spread to land, dispose to landfill, energy recovery etc in tonnes per application) 

Q7a. Please indicate whether this use generated a revenue or a cost?

"Have Your Say"

Q9. In relation to the effective operation of your MBT business what do you see as the most

significant threats or opportunities?

For more details on the research and why it is being carried out, see the WRAP website here.

Any questions please contact Jill Sykes at Urban Mines on jill.sykes@urbanmines.org.uk or on 01274 699400.