Global waste management market continues to grow

A recent research report published by Research Cosmos of Princeton, New Jersey, found the global waste management market accounted for 303.6 billion USD in 2017. That number is expected to reach 484.9 billion USD by 2025, accounting for a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent.

Research Cosmos says Europe dominated the global market in terms of revenue, accounting for about 36 percent share of the global market, followed by North America.

As per data released by the World Bank in 2018, 2.1 billon tons of municipal solid waste was generated globally in 2016. That number is expected to reach approximately 3.4 billion tons by 2050. The countries with the highest per capita waste disposable rates are islands, most likely due to waste generated by the tourism industry. The report found that East Asia and the Pacific region account for approximately 270 million tons of waste generation per year, as per data from 2013. This quantity is majorly influenced by waste generation in China, which makes up 70 percent of the regional figures.

Growth drivers and opportunities

Increase in urbanization, coupled with deterioration of the environment in favor of industrial development, augment the demand for waste management services, thereby driving the growth of the market. In addition, the rapid rise in population also boosts the development of the waste management industry.

A rise in environmental concerns, along with an increase in non-hazardous waste, also contribute to the rapid economic growth across developing nations in waste management services. Other key factors that boost the growth of the market include an increase in recycling techniques, the development of innovative technologies and a growth in advanced waste collection solutions.

Furthermore, uncollected waste and dumping directly impact health, which is expected to increase the demand for waste management services further. However, lack of awareness in developing countries and dearth of investments in solid waste management framework impede the market growth. The driving growth factors, however, are expected to surpass those of the restraints.

Geographical presence

Europe is expected to dominate the waste management market in the near future due to favorable government initiatives along with high-end technology adoption by management services. However, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to drive the demand for waste management services because of its densely populated countries, such as China and India, which are experiencing an increase in urban penetration. Moreover, government initiatives in India, such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), are expected to boost the demand for the waste management services.

Furthermore, emerging economies in Asia-Pacific and LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East and Africa) have focused on adopting solid waste management solutions, which is expected to spread awareness and increase utility of these systems in the near future.

Competitive landscape and major players

Leading companies operating in the global waste management market are:

• Clean Harbors Inc., Norwell, Massachusetts;
• Daiseki Co. Ltd., Tokyo;
• Waste Management Inc., Houston;
• Suez Environment S.A., Paris;
• Advanced Disposal Services, Ponte Vedra, Florida;
• Veolia Environnement S.A., Aubervilliers, France;
• Covanta, Morristown, New Jersey;
• Remondis AG & Co. Kg, Lunen, Germany;
• Biffa Group, High Wycombe, United Kingdom;
• and Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Osaka, Japan.

The key strategies adopted by these players from 2015 to 2018 were product launch, acquisition, partnership, business expansion and collaboration. For instance, Veolia, one of the leading waste management service providers, collaborated with Tetra Pak in November 2018 for recycling used beverage cartons collected within the European Union.

Kevin Stewart is a market research manager for Research Cosmos, is a provider of industry research and consulting services across global industries.