The fee is above the landfill gate rate. The case is the Circular Royalty™, which exceeds the fee from Year 2, on no City or County capital.
Ward County (population 68,233, 2025 estimate, down about 2.1% since 2020; Minot Daily News, 2026-03-26) is served by the City of Minot Landfill, owned and operated by the City's Public Works Solid Waste Management Division at 4450 37th Ave SW (NDDEQ permit 0272). Estimated from a vendor case study of the City landfill (undated, written after the 2011 flood; retrieved 2026-11-10), it receives about 82,000 t/yr of municipal solid waste and about 68,800 t/yr of inert material from six counties. A second permitted municipal landfill operates in the county: McDaniel Landfill Inc, Sawyer (NDDEQ permit 0326). The City's published MSW gate rate is $51/ton (effective 2025-01-01, City of Minot).
No regulatory closure order forces a deadline. The landfill has planned capacity: Cell 7 was approved in January 2023 ($2.36M, about 5–7 years), and the City bought 320 acres in 2017 for $4M to extend site life by 60+ years. The case for a Carbotura facility is therefore not a disposal saving. It is a Circular Royalty™ on every delivered ton, no public capital, cell airspace preserved, and a manufacturing destination for the material.
The comparison, stated plainly. The Beneficiation Fee (TMC Fee) is $100/ton in Year 1, escalating 2.5%/yr: the bottom of the standard $100–$150/ton range. $100/ton is above the City of Minot Landfill's published MSW gate rate of $51/ton. Carbotura claims no disposal saving.
The relationship. Minot and Ward County become the manufacturing feedstock supplier to an ACM facility; material transfers to Carbotura under the 30-year Circular Supply Agreement (CSA) term, and Carbotura pays a Circular Royalty™ on it. Carbotura finances, owns and operates the facility and funds 100% of capital: $75M for Phase Initial (100 TPD), $130M for Phase Medium (200 TPD: $75M first module plus $55M for the second). There is no City or County capital.
Sizing. Phase Initial is 100 TPD, or 36,500 t/yr, about 45% of the landfill's reported municipal intake. Phase Medium is 200 TPD, or 73,000 t/yr, about 89%, a later step taken when the County chooses. Partnerships with Bismarck or Grand Forks could be added later under separate agreements; nothing here depends on them.
Carbotura offers a single commercial structure: the Circular Supply Agreement (CSA).
Transport. Collection stays with City Sanitation; delivered material is routed to Carbotura's site instead of the landfill. Collection arrangements are confirmed during the Deployment Study.
Timeline. 12–24 months from permit issuance to commercial operation for Phase Initial. The Circular Royalty™ begins 13 months after Carbotura's receipt of each Beneficiation Fee payment. No external deadline governs the decision.
Phase Initial, 100 TPD (36,500 t/yr). Royalty received, receipts basis: paid 13 months in arrears; Year n = M(n−1) × BF(n−1). Illustrative. The fee and the royalty are separate gross amounts.
Thirty-year gross totals at 100 TPD: Beneficiation Fee about $160.2M paid; Circular Royalty™ about $207.3M received. At Phase Medium (200 TPD) every figure doubles: Year 1 fee $7.29M, Year 2 royalty $8.76M, Year 30 royalty $21.57M against a Year 30 fee of $14.94M. The royalty exceeds the fee and the gap widens every year.
"Gross cost displacement and Circular Royalty™ cash flow are quantified separately."
"At steady state, the Circular Royalty™ is designed to exceed the Beneficiation Fee on a per-ton basis."
"Circular Royalty™ payments begin 13 months after corresponding Beneficiation Fee payments and ramp to full run-rate on a rolling basis."
| Parameter | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ward County population | 68,233 (2025 estimate; 68,427 in 2024); City of Minot ~47,300 | Verified — Minot Daily News, 2026-03-26 |
| City of Minot Landfill intake | ~82,000 t/yr MSW + ~68,800 t/yr inert, six counties | Reported — estimate, vendor case study, post-2011, retrieved 2026-11-10 |
| Published MSW gate rate (City of Minot Landfill) | $51/ton (inert $37/ton), effective 2025-01-01 | Verified — minotnd.gov/691 |
| Phase Initial | 100 TPD / 36,500 t/yr (about 45% of MSW intake) | Proposed |
| Phase Medium | 200 TPD / 73,000 t/yr (about 89%), when the County chooses | Proposed |
| Beneficiation Fee, Year 1 | $100/ton, above the $51/ton gate rate | the bottom of the standard $100–$150/ton range |
| Beneficiation Fee escalator | 2.5%/yr | Carbotura standard |
| Circular Royalty™ multiplier | 120% of the same year's Beneficiation Fee in Year 1, +1 percentage point/yr | Locked formula |
| Circular Royalty™ received, Year 1 | $0 — 13-month lag (pre-royalty period) | Locked formula |
| Circular Royalty™ received per ton, Year 2 / 10 / 30 | $120.00 / $155.96 / $295.48 (receipts basis) | Illustrative |
| Royalty payment lag | 13 months after Carbotura's receipt of each Beneficiation Fee payment, rolling monthly | Locked formula |
| Carbotura capital | $75M (100 TPD) · $130M (200 TPD) | Carbotura standard |
| Capital obligation to City or County | $0 | Carbotura-financed, owned and operated |
| Hard external regulatory deadline | None | Verified |
| Deployment timeline | 12–24 months from permit issuance to commercial operation | Carbotura standard |
| Direct employment | ~25 at 100 TPD · ~50 at 200 TPD (indirect roughly 3×) | Estimated — standard per-TPD scaling |
| Regulatory Predicate Transition (RPT) | Both parties commit to the RPT pathway onto manufacturing classification (NAICS 31–33). The endpoint is categorical; interim bridging authorities may apply. Confirmation is actively pursued and nothing is contingent on it. North Dakota has no advanced-recycling or manufacturing-classification statute. | Standing condition |
No closure order or regulatory deadline forces this decision, and the landfill has planned capacity. Waiting costs no penalty. It defers the Circular Royalty™, which begins 13 months after Carbotura's receipt of the first Beneficiation Fee payment, and it leaves 36,500 t/yr going into landfill airspace the City has already paid to develop.
The decision can be staged. Phase Initial at 100 TPD stands on Minot's own feedstock. Phase Medium at 200 TPD is a later step, when the County chooses. A partnership CSA with another jurisdiction is possible later under a separate agreement, and nothing in this brief depends on one.
The Deployment Study runs 4–6 weeks and resolves: (a) verified tonnage and composition from City scale records; (b) candidate sites in the M1 / M2 / M3 zoning districts (no parcel identified yet), with geotechnical and zoning assessment; (c) NDDEQ pre-application engagement under NDAC 33.1-20 and NDCC 23.1-08; (d) collection routing with City Sanitation; (e) FAQ and public engagement materials. $0 to Minot — Carbotura bears the cost.
The Deployment Study commits no City or County capital. It produces the verified data set required for CSA execution. This proposal does not bind either party before CSA execution.
Contact: info[at]carbotura.com
Source basis. Population: Minot Daily News, 2026-03-26 (Census 2025 estimates). Landfill ownership, location and capacity: City of Minot, Landfill. Gate rates: City of Minot, Landfill Rates (effective 2025-01-01). Residential collection: City of Minot, Waste Carts. Permitted landfills (permits 0272 and 0326): NDDEQ active MSW landfills. State rules: NDAC 33.1-20 and NDCC 23.1-08. Intake tonnage is estimated from a vendor case study of the City landfill (undated, written after the 2011 flood; retrieved 2026-11-10). Financial figures: Carbotura Circular Advantage modelling, standard contractual parameters, illustrative. Contact: info[at]carbotura.com
A single-page summary for decision-makers: what Minot is being asked to authorise, what it pays, what it receives in return, and how the comparison with the landfill gate rate actually reads.