plants use low technology and labor intensive
processes. The raw material is not a major cost
and accounts for only 2% of the total production
cost in the case of medium scale plants while it
accounts for 18% of the total production cost in
the case of large scale plants. Utilities and
administration costs account for about 11% and
14% of the total production costs respectively,
for all the plants. Marketing cost is a minor cost
for all the plants accounting for only 11% of the
total cost in case of medium scale plants and 8%
in case of the large scale plants while it is nil in
case of small scale plants indicating that compost
plants are not investing in the marketing of their
products.
4.1.2 Key Assumptions and Parameters
for Economic Analysis
of Decentralized Compost
Business
Investment cost per unit of compost is assumed
to be 213 USD/ton based on similar existing
plants in Kenya. The Investment cost includes
land, building, machine, equipment and other
costs. The useful life of the compost plants is
assumed to be 15 years. Production cost, which
includes mainly labor, raw material and other
costs is 55 USD/ton. The conversion of input to
compost is 50%. The capacity of individual
compost plants is 10.5 tons/day of incoming
waste and with 50.9% of organic fraction and
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
< 100 tons
100 - 500 tons
> 500 tons
All firms
Capacity of plant
Land Plant infrastructure Machine Equipment Other
Fig. 3 Share of cost
components in the total
investment cost of surveyed
compost plants
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
< 100 tons
100 - 500 tons
> 500 tons
All firms
Capacity of plant
Raw material Labor Utilities Marketing cost Administration
Fig. 4 Production and
operational cost components
of the surveyed compost
plants
Nutrient Recovery for Use in Agriculture …
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