Global waste management industry has grown weakly between 2013 and 2017. The industry is expected to continue growing modestly toward 2022. Europe is the largest region for the global waste management industry, accounting for 42.5% of global industry value. This is due to the national targets which Europe has implemented to encourage recycling and reuse, resulting in the individual countries putting in individual measures including plastic bag charges and deposits on plastic bottles which are refunded when the empty bottle is returned.

Key Highlights

• Market value: Global waste management industry grew by 1.8% in 2017 to reach a value of $81,699.7 million.
  
• Market value forecast: In 2022, the global waste management industry is forecast to have a value of $88,739.9 million, an increase of 8.6% since 2017.
  
• Market volume: The global waste management industry grew by 1.2% in 2017 to reach a volume of 1,372 million tonnes.
  
• Market volume forecast: In 2022, the global waste management industry is forecast to have a volume of 1,473.1 million tonnes, an increase of 7.4% since 2017.
  
• Geography segmentation: Europe accounts for 42.5% of the global waste management industry value.
  

Growth in this industry has been volatile over the last five years, peaking at 2.3% in 2014 and dropping to 0.8% the following year. This is mainly driven by the recycled sector due to the cheap cost of oil, resulting in the price of virgin materials undercutting recycled goods. Various countries also introduced landfill taxes and other charges which impacted the value of this industry. Volume growth has remained stable despite various countries implementing goals to lower waste. They have generally increased with population and economic growth.