Why compare a commercial food-waste processor with outsourcing?
A rental proposal can look cheaper than the current collection contract when the sales sheet shows only the monthly equipment charge.
The operating decision also depends on electricity, water, microbes, filters, deodorizing supplies, incremental cleaning labor, maintenance excluded from rent, and lawful disposal of the remaining material.
The current outsourcing contract may also have a minimum billable volume, so a reduction in actual kilograms does not always produce an immediate reduction in the invoice.
This calculator puts current outsourcing, processor rental, and processor purchase on the same measured monthly input and the same comparison horizon.
It reports recurring cost, total cost, cost per input kilogram, break-even monthly volume, purchase operating crossover, and fixed sensitivity tests.
Every price and performance field starts at zero because a national average price or an advertised maximum reduction rate would not be reliable evidence for one site.
Best suited to these decisions
- A restaurant, cafe, bakery, or hotel reviewing a collection-contract renewal and a rental proposal at the same time
- A school, hospital, or company cafeteria with seasonal meal counts and a minimum outsourced-service charge
- A facility manager normalizing different equipment claims, utilities, consumables, maintenance scope, and residue pickup
- A multi-site operator testing one measured pilot before deciding whether to expand
- A purchaser comparing commitment and termination exposure with purchase setup, planned repair, and terminal recovery
Build the evidence pack before entering a price
Scope alignment matters more than the number of fields.
Whenever practical, weigh input and processor residue with the same scale and cutoff time for at least four weeks, then separate high and low seasons if they differ materially.
1. Weighing records
Record daily food-waste input in kilograms, operating days, closures, events, and seasonal peaks.
Container counts are weak substitutes because moisture and packing density can change from day to day.
2. Current service evidence
Use the outsourcing contract and recent invoices to identify the minimum volume, per-kilogram rate, fixed collection charge, service scope, and consistent VAT basis.
3. Measured equipment trial
Capture input kilograms, residue kilograms, kWh, liters of water, operating hours, feedstock, and trial conditions.
Do not substitute volume shrinkage or water evaporation for a mass-reduction measurement.
4. Maintenance and exit terms
Obtain the actual rental commitment and termination charge, purchase setup and planned-repair quote, conservative net recovery value, and a lawful residue-treatment quote in writing.
Input map and double-counting controls
Evidence required for common, outsourcing, rental, and purchase inputs| Area | Key inputs | Evidence | Double-counting control |
|---|
| Common | Daily kg, operating days, months, electricity and water rates | Scale logs and site utility bills | Use incremental rather than average utility cost |
| Outsourcing | Minimum kg, per-kg fee, monthly base fee | Contract and recent invoices | Do not add collection again when it is in the per-kg rate |
| Rental | Setup, rent, commitment, termination, reduction, utilities, supplies, labor, residue | Rental contract and measured trial | Set included maintenance or supplies to zero |
| Purchase | Equipment, setup, operation, repair, terminal recovery | Purchase, works, service, and disposal quotes | Do not add accounting depreciation as another cash expense |
Keep the VAT and service basis consistent
Enter every amount on one consistent VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive basis.
The calculator does not add Korean VAT, decide exemption, or calculate input-tax credit.
Align delivery, electrical work, plumbing, ventilation, training, consumables, maintenance, residue pickup, and exit work before comparing totals.
Cost model and formulas
Current outsourcing
Monthly input Q = measured daily kg × operating days
Billable kg = max(Q, minimum billable kg)
Monthly outsourcing cost = base fee + billable kg × fee per kg
The shortfall cost is the unused minimum kilograms multiplied by the per-kilogram fee and comparison months.
Processor operation
Monthly residue kg = Q × (1 - reduction rate / 100)
Electricity = Q × kWh per input kg × electricity price
Water = Q × liters per input kg / 1,000 × price per m³
Residue disposal = residue kg × residue fee per kg
Rental recurring cost adds rent, while both machine alternatives add electricity, water, consumables, cleaning labor, maintenance, other recurring cost, and residue disposal.
Comparison-period totals
- Outsourcing total = monthly outsourcing cost × comparison months
- Rental total = setup + monthly recurring cost × months + applicable verified termination charge
- Purchase total = equipment + setup + monthly recurring cost × months + in-horizon repair - terminal recovery
- Effective cost per input kg = total cost / total input kilograms
The termination charge is included only when the comparison period ends before the commitment.
Planned repair is included only when its month falls inside the horizon, and terminal recovery cannot exceed equipment, setup, and planned-repair cost combined.
Worked example: 100 kilograms per day for 20 days
This is a deterministic formula example, not a Korean market benchmark.
Monthly input is 2,000 kg over a 12-month comparison period, with KRW 200 per kWh and KRW 2,000 per m³ of water.
Outsourcing has a 2,500 kg minimum, KRW 120 per kg, and KRW 100,000 base fee.
Rental has KRW 300,000 setup, KRW 600,000 monthly rent, 80% measured reduction, and the stated utilities, supplies, labor, and residue assumptions.
Purchase has KRW 9,000,000 equipment and setup, 85% measured reduction, and KRW 5,000,000 terminal recovery.
Twelve-month deterministic comparison example in Korean won| Alternative | Monthly recurring | 12-month total | Main driver |
|---|
| Current outsourcing | KRW 400,000 | KRW 4,800,000 | 500 kg monthly minimum shortfall |
| Processor rental | KRW 764,000 | KRW 9,468,000 | Rent, supplies, and residue disposal |
| Processor purchase | KRW 238,000 | KRW 6,856,000 | KRW 9M initial cash less KRW 5M recovery |
Outsourcing is lowest in this example, purchase is second, and rental is highest.
That is not a general statement about processor rental.
It means that the entered rent and operating scope exceed the outsourcing savings under this measured volume and minimum-billing condition.
Interpreting break-even volume and crossover month
Break-even monthly kilograms
Outsourcing is piecewise linear: it is flat below the minimum billable volume and rises at the per-kilogram rate above that point.
Each processor has fixed monthly-equivalent cost plus electricity, water, and residue cost per input kilogram.
The calculator solves both outsourcing segments, keeps only roots that belong to the correct segment, and can therefore return zero, one, or two finite crossings.
Purchase operating crossover
The operating crossover is the first month when purchase setup plus recurring operation and any due planned repair becomes no greater than rental or outsourcing cumulative operation.
It excludes terminal recovery and rental termination charges so that an operating payback signal is not confused with end-of-horizon cash flow.
No finite crossover is still a result
It can mean that one alternative remains lower throughout the supported volume range, or that equal slopes do not create a unique root.
Review the current total ranking and sensitivity table rather than treating a missing crossing as zero kilograms.
Turn sensitivity results into quote questions
The calculator reruns the three totals at volume down 20%, baseline, volume up 20%, both processor reduction rates down 10 percentage points, and electricity price up 20%.
These are fixed stresses, not forecasts or probabilities.
- If rental loses at lower volume, ask about smaller equipment, seasonal suspension, transfer between sites, and minimum commitment
- If outsourcing rises sharply at higher volume, request a scope-matched tiered rate and confirm collection frequency and storage capacity
- If a 10-point reduction shortfall changes the winner, run a site trial with representative feedstock and weigh the residue directly
- If electricity stress changes the result, verify standby power, warm-up and drying hours, peak demand, and electrical-upgrade work
- If one option remains cheapest in every stress, continue with separate legal, hygiene, safety, and service-quality review
Korea-based legal scope as of August 16, 2026
The National Law Information OPEN API returned the current Waste Control Act as Law ID 001771, MST 276797; its Enforcement Decree as Law ID 005353, MST 284591; and its Enforcement Rule as Law ID 008567, MST 287445.
The current-version search date for the Act is March 26, 2026, while the XML effective date for Article 15-2 is October 1, 2025.
Waste Control Act Article 15-2 requires covered large food-waste generators to comply with local-ordinance requirements, report a reduction and treatment plan, and self-handle or entrust waste through the prescribed lawful routes.
Article 15-2(5), Article 17, and Article 18 preserve separate duties concerning proper treatment, qualified contractors, and applicable electronic transfer information.
Decree Article 8-4 includes, subject to its wording and exceptions, group meal facilities with at least 100 average daily meals, or 200 for kindergarten meal facilities; certain rest or general restaurants at least 200 m²; large stores; agricultural and fishery distribution facilities; tourist accommodations; and locally designated generators.
Local ordinances can alter the restaurant-area or excluded-business boundary, and the Decree contains an exception for generators treated under a separate business-site-waste provision.
Korean Waste Control Act references and calculator boundaries| Reference | Review item | Not determined here |
|---|
| Act Article 15-2 | Reduction plan, reporting, self-treatment or lawful entrustment | Reporting status or lawful treatment |
| Decree Article 8-4 | Business type, area, meal count, local ordinance, exceptions | Automatic covered-generator classification |
| Rule Article 16-12 | Capacity evidence, lawful contractor, written terms, three-year retention where applicable | Uniform application to every restaurant |
| Rule Article 17-4 | Proper-treatment review population and method | Contractor performance or compliance assurance |
This is a Korea-specific cost planner, not a compliance classifier.
The equipment method, residue characteristics, local ordinance, reporting, facility status, permit scope, contractor acceptance capacity, Allbaro duties, sewer discharge, hygiene, odor, noise, electrical work, plumbing, ventilation, and fire safety require separate current review.
Step-by-step workflow
- Fix the measured input basis. Enter the average daily kilograms and actual operating days, then run high and low seasons separately when needed
- Enter current outsourcing. Separate minimum kilograms, per-kilogram treatment, and fixed collection scope without duplication
- Decompose the rental quote. Enter setup, rent, commitment, verified termination charge, measured reduction, utilities, supplies, cleaning, maintenance, other cost, and residue disposal
- Normalize the purchase quote. Add equipment and setup, recurring operation, in-horizon planned repair, and a conservative terminal recovery value
- Read total and unit cost together. Low initial cash and low comparison-period total may belong to different alternatives
- Use break-even and sensitivity as questions. Ask the contractor or supplier to substantiate the inputs that change the winner
- Complete the non-cost review. Confirm local rules, lawful residue treatment, hygiene, odor, noise, electrical, plumbing, ventilation, and service response before contracting
Practical scenarios and cautions
Restaurant contract renewal
Compare recent measured volume with the minimum billable kilograms first.
If the site is already below the minimum, installing a processor may not reduce the invoice unless the outsourcing agreement and residue pickup are renegotiated together.
Cafeteria seasonality
Run term-time and vacation months separately when meal count changes materially.
Confirm whether rent stays fixed in low-volume months and whether peak throughput, standby power, and residue storage remain workable.
Hotel or multi-site pilot
Do not copy one pilot reduction rate across every property.
Menu mix, water content, shells or bones, loading schedule, operator practice, and residue route can change measured performance and labor.
- Use one VAT basis across all quotes and do not add tax again inside the calculator
- Set included maintenance, supplies, remote monitoring, or residue pickup to zero in the separate fields
- Prefer measured monthly kWh or like-for-like kWh per input kilogram over rated power multiplied by 24 hours
- Use incremental cleaning labor consistently and do not mix cash cost with non-cash accounting depreciation
- Enter a conservative net recovery value after removal, transport, selling cost, condition, and remaining life
- At 100% entered reduction, rent, electricity, water, supplies, cleaning, and maintenance remain; only residue kilograms and residue cost become zero
Frequently asked questions
Does installing a processor eliminate the outsourcing contract?
Not automatically.
Duties depend on the equipment method, residue, business classification, local ordinance, reporting, and permitted treatment route.
This calculator does not treat equipment installation as a legal exemption.
Can I enter the maximum reduction rate in a sales brochure?
Use it only when feedstock, loading, time, and measurement basis match the site.
A conservative measured trial and the 10-percentage-point downside stress are safer planning inputs.
Which electricity price should I use?
Use the incremental cost supported by the site tariff and bill.
If demand charges, time-of-use rates, or an electrical upgrade are material, convert the actual added cost to the monthly scope or obtain specialist review.
Why can there be two break-even volumes?
Outsourcing is flat below its minimum billable volume and linear above it.
A processor cost line can cross each segment once, producing two valid roots under some combinations.
Why do all results start at zero?
The model intentionally avoids invented Korean market prices and vendor performance.
Enter measured volume, bills, and actual scope-matched quotes before relying on a comparison.
Official sources and update schedule
The legal references were checked through the Korean National Law Information OPEN API on August 16, 2026.
Recheck the Act, Decree, and Rule at least semiannually or on amendment; review the competent local ordinance before contracting; and replace every price, supply, maintenance, and performance input whenever the evidence changes.
Rebuild the comparison with measured evidence
Prepare four weeks of kilograms, the current outsourcing invoice, the rental commitment and termination schedule, and the purchase setup and maintenance quote.
Enter those values above, mark every assumption that changes the ranking, and request revised like-for-like quotes before making a contract or compliance decision.