EREF study shows MSW tip fees rose ‘sharply’ in 2022

The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) has released its seventh annual municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill tip fee report, which includes data from 348 MSW landfills across all 50 states.

The 2022 iteration of the report found a steep incline in fees nationwide, apart from the Southeast, which experienced only a 2 percent increase. The national unweighted tip fee rose to $58.4 per ton, 8 percent higher than the $54.03 reported in 2021.

Photo courtesy of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation

The unweighted average is the average of all fees, with the fees of each reporting landfill being equally weighted. The weighted average is the average of all fees based on the relative amount of MSW managed at each reporting landfill.

While the Pacific and Northeast regions continue to have the highest fees per ton in the U.S., the Midwest and South-Central regions saw the highest percent increase at 22 and 29 percent, respectively. These two regions also exhibit the highest year-over-year increase since 2018, according to EREF.

Average Tipping Fee (weighted)

EREF explored the relationship between the annual average tipping fee and four common indicators that can affect prices. These include the Consumer Price Index, motor vehicle repair costs, vehicle manufacturing costs and wages.

Using a regression analysis (sorting out which of these variables has a measurable impact), EREF identified a moderate relationship between these indicators and tip fees, with the strongest being wages. As the cost of labor rises, tip fees also rise. EREF says this is because labor makes up a significant expense for waste management services.

To account for differences in the amount of MSW landfilled at each facility and in each region, largely from factors such as total waste generation, fractions recovered for recycling and/or composting and interstate transport, EREF regularly calculates both unweighted and ton-weighted average tip fees. Additional details on these methodologies can be found in the full report.

The free report, “Analysis of MSW Landfill Tipping Fees—2022,” shares additional 2022 tipping fee data. The full report can be found at www.erefdn.org.