Hazardous Waste Containment and Disposition

Report Highlights

• The commercial hazardous waste containment and disposition industry represents a $2.35 billion business in North America. Source reduction efforts will cause this market to decrease at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of –0.3% to $2.32 billion in 2007, 37% below the peak of the business in 1993.
• Treatment represents 48% of the market. This segment will decline at an AAGR of –0.7% to $1.1 billion in 2007.
• Resource recovery, 35% of the market, will rise at an AAGR of 1.1% to $865 million in 2007. Metals recovery, rising at an AAGR of 5%, accounts for the segment’s growth.
• Disposal revenues will drop from $400 million to $360 million during the period.
• In light of the terrorist attacks in September 2001, opportunities exist as spending for perimeter and other security measures will increase dramatically. Other opportunities lie in geotextiles, geomembranes and related construction activities.

INTRODUCTION

STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of this report is to provide a detailed and comprehensive multi-client study of the commercial market in North America for hazardous waste containment and disposition, and potential opportunities in the future. The objectives include a thorough coverage of the underlying economic issues driving the hazardous waste containment and disposition , as well as assessments of new and potential products and services that companies are developing. Social, political, and regulatory issues are also covered. Another important objective is to provide realistic market data and forecasts for hazardous waste containment and disposition services and technologies.

REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY

Although source reduction and pollution prevention strategies have reduced the absolute volume of hazardous wastes generated during the past decade, large volumes of hazardous wastes, however, still exist at industrial sites and other facilities. These and continual generation of industrial wastes require safe and cost-effective transportation, handling, storage, processing, treatment, and disposal. Significant changes are thus taking place in the hazardous waste containment and disposition industry. Many external forces including regulations, source reduction and pollution prevention programs, voluntary industry initiatives, and new developments in treatment technology have driven such changes.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE STUDY AND FOR WHOM

This study provides the most complete accounting of commercial hazardous waste containment and disposition developments in the U.S. and Canada currently available in a multi-client format. It provides the most thorough and up-to-date assessment that can be found anywhere on the subject. The study also provides extensive quantification of the many important facets of market developments in the U.S. for emerging recovery, treatment, and disposal technologies. This, in turn, contributes to the determination of what kind of strategic response suppliers may adopt in order to compete in this market. Audiences for this study include marketing executives, unit managers and other decision-makers in the hazardous waste containment and disposition companies themselves as well as technology suppliers and other companies peripheral to this .

SCOPE AND FORMAT

The commercial hazardous waste containment and disposition industry is a somewhat defined sector. The scope of this report is comprehensive, covering the present status of and future prospects for hazardous waste containment and disposition in the United States and Canada. Basically, the scope of the report includes diverse segments such as recycling and recovery, treatment and disposal. These are analyzed in detail as well as technology developments, market conditions and opportunities and five-year forecasts. The role of biotechnology and other new treatment and disposal technologies are reviewed in this comprehensive report. This BCC study analyzes the current North America market in detail and identifies the most promising market opportunities for the next five years. Western European and Japanese markets are covered as well. In light of recent world events, special emphasis is also placed on the role of site and logistical security and potential new requirements that will emerge, fostering new investment.

In addition to means of hazardous waste containment and disposition, it also covers the many issues concerning the merits and future prospects of the , including corporate strategies, technologies, and the means for providing these products and service offerings. It also covers in detail the social, political, regulatory and economic issues that so many regard as critical to the industry's current state of change. The report provides a review of the hazardous waste containment and disposition industry and its structure, and the many companies involved in providing these services and technologies. The competitive position of the main players in the market and the strategic options they face are also discussed, as well as such competitive factors as marketing, distribution, and operations.

The values presented in the forecast tables represent the value of the hazardous waste containment and disposition services provided to industrial companies, government agencies, and other organizations. For technologies, the values represent those paid by the hazardous waste containment and disposition, industrial and other companies in the context of their capital spending programs. In this report, the term revenue is equivalent to, and is used interchangeably with the terms purchases, demand and sales. All growth rates mentioned in the tables and in the text are based on the average annual rate of growth from 2002 through the year 2007. The compounding method of calculating growth rates is used. In most cases, the actual tonnage or other quantity of the wastes recovered, treated, or disposed are measured and the calculated growth rates are easy to comprehend. Because current dollar measures are used to measure revenues, these growth rates reflect the growth in volume or real growth, including the effects of price changes and changes in the product/service mix.

METHODOLOGY

The research methodology was qualitative in nature and employed a triangulative approach, which aids validity. Initially, a comprehensive and exhaustive search of the literature on hazardous waste containment and disposition was conducted. These secondary sources included hazardous waste and other environment journals and related books, trade literature, marketing literature, other product/promotional literature, annual reports, security analyst reports, and other publications. A patent search and analysis was also conducted.

In a second phase, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with marketing executives, engineers, unit managers, design engineers, and other personnel at the hazardous waste containment and disposition companies themselves. Other sources included academics, technology suppliers, technical experts, trade association officials, government officials, and consulting companies. These were a rich source of data. Subsequent analysis of the documents and interview notes was iterative.