According to a new technical market research report, U.S. Medical Waste Treatment, Containment, Management and Disposal Markets (ENV005B) from BCC Research, the U.S. market for medical waste treatment, containment, management and disposal increased from $1.9 billion in 2006 to an estimated $2.0 billion by the end of 2007. It should reach $2.6 billion by 2012, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%.

The market is broken down into applications of medical waste treatments, containment systems, and management and disposal services. Of these sectors, management and disposal service has the largest share of the market, worth an estimated $1.6 billion in 2007 and expected to reach $2.1 billion by 2012, a CAGR of 5.5%. Driving growth in this segment are the evolving state and federal regulations surrounding the disposal of medical waste and facilities. Also driving the market is the growing interest in reusable sharps containers, which is increasing service contracts for the management of these systems.

Medical waste containment systems have the second largest share of the market, worth an estimated $346 million in 2007 and expected to reach $400 million by 2012, a CAGR of 2.9%. These systems are expected to experience high growth due to a growing and aging population, a rising incidence of chronic disease and new requirements for sharps disposal in community and home settings.

Medical waste treatments account for the smallest percentage of revenues, largely due to the competition with service companies and the often one-time cost for facilities to implement a system on-site. In 2007, the market will reach $58.4 million, increasing 8% to 9% annually. Although market sales are lower in this segment, it represents the highest growth of any medical waste market segment.