Waste incineration increases worldwide
ecoprog and Fraunhofer UMSICHT expect an increase in worldwide incineration capacity of 40 million annual tonnes by 2012. There are currently around 2,500 plants in 31 countries. Europe remains the largest market, but China is booming.
A multi-client study, "The Global Market for Waste Incineration Plants", newly published by ecoprog and Fraunhofer UMSICHT, examines the market for plants and operations in waste incineration around the world.
Waste incineration is increasing worldwide. Global capacity has increased from 160 to 200 million annual tonnes in the last decade. Further growth of up to 240 million annual tonnes is expected in the next five years. Currently, there are around 2,500 waste incineration plants in operation in 31 countries, almost 1,800 of them in Japan.
The growing lack of land is causing a shortage of space for landfills, especially in large urban centres. Many major cities, no longer able to cope with ever-increasing amounts of waste, have turned to industrial waste incineration. This reduces the volume of the waste by up to 70 percent, while also enabling the waste to be used to produce energy and so saving fossil fuels.
As the pioneer in this development, Europe has legislated to limit untreated municipal solid waste. The European Union's Landfill Directive triggered a boom in planning of new plants in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands over the last three years. Other EU countries are now following suit.
However, the country that is currently building the largest number of industrial waste incineration plants is China: more new plants are planned construction there than in the rest of the world combined. In the USA, incineration of waste is attractive only in stand-alone projects for the time being, despite it having been recognised as a renewable energy. Japan is the only country where capacity is falling.
Waste incineration will have continued potential for years to come. Emerging nations like China and India have only just discovered this technology. With the number of plants worldwide on the increase, maintenance and modernisation work is also increasing. There are good opportunities for private operators, especially in countries that lack experience in waste incineration.
The market study "The Global Market for Waste Incineration Plants" is available now and can be ordered directly from the website: www.ecoprog.com.
ecoprog, a Cologne consultancy with offices and representatives in Germany, Canada, Japan, China, France and Italy, specialises in the market for environmental and energy technology. The Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT) develops, appraises and optimises technical processes relating environmental, safety, process and energy technology. The two institutions work together to produce market studies on selected sub-segments of the environmental technology market.
