The global waste to energy (WTE) market size was USD 25.0 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. Increasing demand for renewable sources is anticipated to propel the global waste to energy market over the forecast period. A shift in focus towards substitutes such as coal with renewable resources to reduce carbon content is also projected to play a vital role in shaping the industry.
Increasing domestic and industrial waste has prompted governments across various regions to promote energy generation from waste. Favorable government regulations in the form of tax benefits and financial incentives have had a positive influence on the growth. Growing environmental concerns for the use of non-renewable resources is expected to further complement the growth.
The growth of recycling industry across various developed regions such as U.S., Germany, The Netherlands and Japan is expected to drive the WTE projects in the near future. Lack of awareness regarding WTE benefits particularly in developing economies of Central & North Africa is expected to inhibit the growth. Incineration is a major technology deployed across WTE plants. Biological technologies are expected to gain significant market share over the forecast period.
Technological advancements in energy generation to improve the efficiency of yield from waste is expected to act favorably for industry players. Globally, the companies have adopted WTE techniques to reduce their waste produced and parallelly generate captive energy. Methane gas emission from landfills due to waste decomposition is a key concern for using landfilling as a mean of waste management. Increasing landfilling prices is anticipated to augment the growth.
Technology Insights
The thermal segment accounted for the largest share in 2015 and was valued at USD 1,772.8 million in 2015. Thermal technology is a widely used form of generation through waste. It is relatively a simple process coupled with ease of operations. It is a major factor driving the thermal WTE technology growth. Incineration thermal technology is expected to have a significant share over the coming years.
Health concerns due to emission of flue gasses via thermal WTE technology has been a major challenge for the industry over the recent past. Biological technologies are used for anaerobic decomposition of solid waste to generate energy. Biological technologies are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period owing to its potential in developing markets.
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