UK can expect tremendous growth opportunities for waste recycling companies

With gradual decommissioning of landfills, and strict incineration legislation, the recycling industry is expected to grow steadily as the EU shifts towards being a recycling society. The percentage of municipal wastes being recycled needs to increase sharply to overcome the burden of excessive waste generation. In addition, there is a growing need for innovative and cost effective treatment of waste in newly joined EU member states. According to Frost & Sullivan, all these factors ensure that legislative momentum provides immense opportunities for the major recycling and waste treatment firms of Europe.

An environmentally conscious Europe is moving away from conventional municipal solid waste management strategies like landfill dumping and is committed to developing new greener strategies. The link established between municipal waste and greenhouse gases has made recycling a priority across the EU.

In the UK, the waste management market is currently relatively small. A combination of low prices due to competitive pricing and low volumes of MSW being recycled in the UK account for the relatively low market size of $0.71 billion in 2009.

Frost & Sullivan Research Manager Suchitra Padmanabhan confirmed, “The waste recycling market in the UK is geared towards making a shift to an effective recycling society in the EU. Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) are making an important contribution to meeting the challenging EU recycling and landfill diversion targets.”