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The business case starts with the waste route
One biowaste project can contain two different business cases.
01 · The generator
The generator's ledger
For the generator, the ledger starts with the current handling cost: collection, transport, treatment, internal work, contract limits and the risk of losing capacity or service.
The potential value is an avoided or reduced cost when a credible alternative replaces part of that route.
02 · The handler
The handler's ledger
For the waste handler, the ledger starts elsewhere: the service fee, accessible tonnes and the complete cost of receiving, preprocessing and treating the material, including rejects, residues, operating risk and capital.
The potential value is service margin plus conservative net output value where a lawful buyer and price are evidenced.
03 · Two ledgers
Keep the two ledgers separate
A lower bill for the generator is not automatically margin for the handler. Larvae or frass sales are not automatically revenue for the generator. Keep the two ledgers separate.
04 · The decision
Solve the gate fee from the economics
In a black soldier fly case, the required service or gate fee is solved from the complete economics and compared with the present route. It is not assumed at the start.
Manna uses both views to test whether the case merits further work. The present route may still remain the better economic choice.
Which ledger are you calculating today: the generator's avoided cost or the handler's service margin?
Keep exploring
Related topics and pages
- BSF business course — where the costs, income and case validation behind a route are taught
- Articles library — the written guides this post joins
- Learn hub — the courses and libraries behind the article
Read next
- Before changing the waste route, establish the baseline — why the current route should be written down before any alternative is compared
- Five questions for a fair biowaste route comparison — the five questions that put competing biowaste proposals on one basis
- New sidestream revenue starts with a real buyer — why a possible market is not a revenue line before a real buyer is named
- A zero-price waste stream can still carry an expensive commitment — why a zero-price stream still carries a contract, logistics, existing use and residual treatment commitment
Next step
Start from the route you have
Manna can put the current handling cost and the handler's service economics on one basis before a BSF route is compared.