Waste Management Market by Type (Municipal, Industrial, and Hazardous), Service (Collection and Disposable), and Regional Analysis (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020–2027

Waste Management Market Analysis

The global waste management market is predicted to garner $2,319.5 billion in the 2020–2027 timeframe, growing from $2,075.8 billion in 2019 at a healthy CAGR of 5.6%.

Market Synopsis

Strategic acquisitions among market players, along with capacity expansion to enhance the geographical presence, is anticipated to drive the growth of the waste management market.

However, the environmental impact associated with the waste-to-energy (WTE) that causes air pollution leading to serious health issues such as asthma and other health issues is a growth restraining factor for the market. 

According to the regional analysis of the market, the Asia-Pacific waste management market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% by generating a revenue of $1,366.0 billion during the review period.

Waste Management Overview

Waste management or waste disposal is a multi-step process that involves collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste to prevent health hazards and environmental impact. It involves treating of solid waste and disposing unwanted substances and products in a safe as well as efficient manner. All types of waste are included in waste management such as solid, liquid, or gas. Waste management deals with hazardous, industrial, and municipal waste generated from towns & cities, manufacturing waste from industries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, medicals, and other industries.

Impact Analysis of COVID-19 on the Global Waste Management Market

The novel coronavirus pandemic had a devastating effect on several industries and the waste management market also experienced a negative impact due rapid increase in the amount of generated waste and lack of human resources and efficient waste management methods to ensure proper waste disposal. Furthermore, the lockdown situations across many countries led to panic buying of essential goods and this led to increase in single-used products. For instance, a report published in National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), in August 2020, states that Turkey banned more than 8,000 workers due to COVID-19 containment measures. Such, disruptions in labors, and increase in the amount of generated waste greatly affected the waste management market.

The several companies, with their technological advancements and various government initiatives, are helping the society to recover from the chaotic situation. Many waste management technologies were introduced during the pandemic times to ensure the safety of labors and efficient waste disposal. For instance, as stated in NCBI, the Hong Kong government had introduced 2 new bonus schemes for waste recycling namely One-Off Rental Support Scheme (ORSS) that helps recycling facilities in paying 50% of their rent and One-off Recycling Industry Anti-Epidemic Scheme (ORIAS) that supports the operational cost of recycling facilities. Such government initiatives are anticipated to generate substantial investment opportunities in the market, amid the COVID-19 crisis. 

Government Regulations on Effective Waste Disposal to Surge the Market Growth

The global waste management industry is witnessing a rapid growth mainly due to increase in government regulations for adoption of effective waste disposal techniques. This growth is majorly due to increase in awareness regarding effective waste disposal as some forms of waste can cause health hazards if not properly disposed. For instance, Epa.gov, which is the United States Environmental Protection Agency, has imposed certain regulations on management of hazardous waste to preserve human health and environment. The hazardous waste initiatives stated by EPA includes increased recycling of aerosol cans, revising import-export regulations, rules on disposal of pharmaceutical waste disposal, and others. 

Moreover, the report published on August 2018, in European Commission, that formulates the policies to ensure high level environmental protection, has laid down certain laws for waste and recycling of waste. The EU’s waste policy aims to extract high quality resources from waste and to prevent waste from being dumped into the landfill. As stated in this report, 5 tonnes of waste is generated by European countries every year out of which only 38% is recycled and remaining waste goes to the landfill. Hence, the EU waste policy focuses on improving the waste management, stimulating waste recycling and limiting the waste from being dumped into the landfill. Such government initiatives that ensure efficient waste disposal are predicted to drive the market growth during the forecast period.

To know more about global waste management market drivers, get in touch with our analysts here.

Waste Management is Efficient but not Environmentally Friendly 

Although waste management is an effective method that helps in recycling the waste, it is not clean. For instance, Waste-to-energy (WTE) which is one of the waste management technique, involves generating energy from waste. The energy generated from waste is a renewable energy concept; however, it is not a clean source of energy as it leads to air pollution thereby emitting hazardous gases such as nitrogen dioxides and sulfur dioxides that can cause serious health issues. Such factors are estimated to limit the market growth during the review period.

Growing Population and Rapid Urbanization to Create Massive Investment Opportunities

Emerging economies such as Asia-Pacific and LAMEA regions are estimated to generate huge growth opportunities due to growing population and rapid urbanization. For instance, as stated in Indian Infrastructure, that offers analysis, insights, and information on infrastructure sector in India, states that government has expanded focus on Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in February 2020, for solid waste management. Under this initiative the government will focus on solid waste collection, separation of waste, and processing along with plastic waste management. The Lucknow Municipal Corporation established 15 MW WTE plant at Shivri village under Lucknow Solid Waste Management (SWM) project that can convert 45,000 waste into 450 MW of electricity. Various WTE plants are at different stages of implementation in India that can generate energy from waste. In January 2020, the Punjab government approved the construction of 7 MW plant in Mohali district. This WTE plant can generate electricity from 600 tons of waste collected per day from Mohali and Patiala. Hence, such waste management initiatives that help in proper waste disposal, reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, and recycling the waste are estimated to accelerate the growth of waste management market.

To know more about global waste management market opportunities, get in touch with our analysts here.

Global Waste Management Market, by Type

Based on type, the market has been divided into municipal, industrial, and hazardous sub-segments of which industrial sub-segment is projected to generate the maximum revenue and hazardous sub-segment is predicted to show the fastest growth.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The industrial waste management sub-segment is predicted to have a dominating market share in the global market and is expected to register a revenue of $2,064.2 billion during the forecast period. Industrial waste refers to the waste generated via industrial or manufacturing activities. The waste included under this sub-segment includes oil, scrap metals, trash, solvents, masonry, and other similar waste. The industrial waste sub-segment attributed for the highest growth owing to rapid industrialization, urbanization and focus on minimizing the industrial waste. The rapid urbanization such as construction megaprojects, development of smart cities, growing industries is leading to increase in the amount of generated waste. The industrial waste recycling saves energy and resources, and helps in achieving sustainability thereby reducing the environmental impact. Such benefits of industrial waste management are predicted to drive the growth of industrial sub-segment in the review period.

The hazardous waste management type is anticipated to have the fastest market growth, and it is predicted that the market shall generate a revenue of $133.9 billion by 2027, growing from $111.6 billion in 2019. The hazardous waste includes chemical, nuclear, flammable, explosive and other such wastes. Various companies are taking several initiatives for managing hazardous waste for safe disposal. For instance, in October 2018, the Waste Management, Inc., an U.S.-based leading waste management & environmental services company, established solid and liquid injection disposal facility located in the U.S. This facility focuses on recycling the hazardous waste generated from oil and gas industry. This factor is estimated to have a significant impact on the market growth during the projected period.

Global Waste Management Market, by Service

Based on service the analysis has been divided into collection and disposable. Out of these, the disposable sub-segment is predicted to have the fastest growth and collection sub-segment is anticipated to garner a significant revenue share in the global market.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The collection sub-segment of the global waste management is anticipated to have rapid growth and surpass $1,089.5 billion by 2027, with an increase from $991.6 billion in 2019. Collection is a part of waste management process that involves collecting the waste from the source and transferring it to the disposable point for further processing. Collection sub-segment is anticipated to acquire significant revenue share as it facilitates easy separation of organic and inorganic waste that is useful in waste recycling. Improvement in waste collection process is estimated to generate job opportunities, reduction in open dumping and burning of waste to improve the public health. All these factors are estimated to drive the growth of collection sub-segment during the forecast period.

The disposable sub-segment is predicted to have a dominating market share in the global market and is expected to register a revenue of $1,230.2 billion during the analysis timeframe owing to an increase in regulations for waste disposal and management. There are various methods of waste disposal such as recycling, composting, plasma gasification and others. For instance, as published in Eia.gov that focuses on U.S. Energy Information Administration stated several federal governments have implemented tax relief policy that rewards companies utilizing more than 50% of renewable raw materials. Such initiatives are anticipated to drive the market growth during the forecast period.

Global Waste Management Market, Regional Insights:

The waste management market was investigated across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

The Market for Waste Management in Asia-Pacific to be the Most Dominant

The Asia-Pacific waste management market accounted $1,183.4 billion in 2019 and is projected to register a revenue of $1,366.0 billion by 2027. The rapid advancements in infrastructure, growing urban population in emerging countries such as India and China, and waste management reforms are driving the growth of waste management market in Asia-Pacific region. For instance, as stated in CGTN, which is the Beijing based new service, on August 2020, China is focusing on improving its waste management policy. Due to rapid urbanization and growing economy the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in China in 2018 was 22.8 million tonnes and it is estimated to reach up to 409 million tonnes by 2030. To address the growing waste management issue China implemented the waste sorting regulations that divides the MSW waste into 4 categories namely recyclables, perishables, hazardous materials and residuals. Such sorting technique will ultimately lead to efficient waste disposal thereby the emission of greenhouse gases. All these aspects are estimated to drive the waste management market growth during the forecast period.

The Market for Waste Management in North America to be the Fastest Growing

The share of North America waste management market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.7% by registering a revenue of $241.0 billion by 2027. The growth is majorly owing to increase in commercialization and development of new waste management techniques in the region. For instance, as stated in Epa.gov the United States has laid certain regulations on management of household, industrial, and manufacturing of solid and hazardous waste. Such regulations is estimated to drive the market growth, that will boost the North America waste management market in the upcoming years.

Competitive Scenario in the Global Waste Management Market

Product launches and mergers & acquisitions are common strategies followed by major market players.

Source: Research Dive Analysis

Some of the leading waste management market players are Biffa Plc, Clean Harbors, Inc., Covanta Holding Corporation, Daiseki Co., Ltd, Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Remondis Se & Co. Kg, Republic Services, Inc, Suez, Waste Management, Inc, and Casella Waste Systems Inc.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for the Global Waste Management Market:

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The suppliers in the waste management market are moderate in number. Several companies are working on product designs and innovations that use different raw materials to avoid changing the supplier if the there is a hike in the price of a particular material.
  Thus, the bargaining power suppliers is moderate.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers have low bargaining power; as number of buyers are low, switching cost of the product is low. The number of suppliers are moderate. As buyers have less power as waste management is governed by several rules and regulations laid down in various countries. 
  Thus, the bargaining power of the buyers is low.
• Threat of New Entrants: The companies entering waste management market are adopting product launch and innovations to attract clients. Different companies entering the waste management testing market are adopting technological innovations such as developing an innovative software application to attract clients. Also, these companies are implementing various effective strategies such as offering discounts and value propositions. 
  Thus, the threat of the new entrants is moderate.
• Threat of Substitutes: High investment cost is involved in waste management market along with government regulations and legal barriers but there is no alternative product for waste management solutions. 
  Thus, the threat of substitutes is low.
• Competitive Rivalry in the Market: The competitive rivalry among industry leaders is moderate. The existing players are focusing more on product advancements and acquisitions to enhance their market presence.   
  Therefore, competitive rivalry in the market is moderate.