Waste Transportation Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Waste Type (Hazardous Waste, Municipal Waste, Industrial Waste), By Mode Of Transport (Rail Transport, Road Transport, Air Transport, Sea Transport), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2022 To 2027

The waste transportation market was valued at US$129.776 billion in 2020.

Waste Management is a technique of collection, treatment, disposal, and recycling of waste materials that can cause harm to the natural environment and biodiversity when not handled properly. Waste transportation is a way of handling waste via trucks, dumpers, and big loaders to properly dispose of the waste in dumping grounds and landfills and also undertake the task of waste recycling. There is hazardous and non-hazardous waste that can take any form and degrade the environment.

Hazardous waste can take the form of solids, liquids, gases, and sludges that are released from chemical production and manufacturing of factories, industries, and industrial plants. Many diseases spread due to improper waste accumulation and therefore it requires proper waste management entities to streamline the process of waste management. The hazardous waste is mostly transported by truck via road, rail, sea, and air transport.

The increase in demand for waste transportation is expected due to pollution and environmental degradation.

The increase in pollution in the 21st century has contributed a lot to the need for waste management techniques to curb rising diseases, climate change, and environmental degradation. One such reason for increasing pollution in the world is an increase in population as more and more are living in conducted housing environments giving rise to slums and unhygienic breathing spaces. Poorly managed waste dumped in oceans and landfills causes increases in diseases and health disorders for aquatic and terrestrial animals. According to UNEP, 4 million people died in 2019 as a result of acute air pollution and the death rates accounted for in developing countries of the world like East Asia and South-East Asia.

According to the UN environment program, 11.2 billion tonnes of waste is generated every year and most of it attributes to solid waste. Half of the waste decays and remains untreated. In 2020, 2.24 billion of solid waste was generated and is expected to increase to 3.88 billion by 2050 as per World Bank. It is found that more than a million children die from air pollution. As per, India’s Environmental Report, premature deaths are an increasing effect due to increasing pollution levels.

Many incentives and programs have been formulated recently all over the world to prioritize waste management and transportation system.

The Government of India has set a time-bound goal for improving air pollution in India via National Clean Air Programme in September 2020 and focused on non-attainment cities where air pollution control is not met properly. It also set aside US $1.7 billion to eliminate air pollution. Agra Nagar Nigam (ANN), The Society for Technology, Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and GoMassive partnered to launch waste transport vehicles for solid and liquid resource management under the Nirmal Agra Project.

In the USA, ACT Environmental and Infrastructure partnered with The Sustainable Workplace Alliance in August 2022, to provide training facilities and classes to students on environmental knowledge, expert guidance on waste management operations, and health and safety training that is required in USA industries.

Due to the increase in plastic waste globally, Accenture, EY, the University of Leeds, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization collaborated to effectively reduce the amount of plastic with the expertise of these corporate companies and the guidance of UNIDO.

Key Developments

• EnviroServe acquired leading Southwest Waste Transportation and environmental services in February 2022 and expanded its business.
• Waste Connection acquired E.L Harvey and Sons in September 2021 for US$110 million – a solid waste collection, recycling, and transfer service provider in Massachusetts.  This acquisition was to expand the market for Waste Connection with the expertise of Harvey and Sons in the waste management system.
• GFL Environmental announced the acquisition of the waste division of Peoria Disposal Company, a solid waste management and recycled business company in October 2021. It includes operating in three active landfills, local transfer stations, and recovery facility, and a wastewater treatment plant.
• Waste Management Company acquired US$4.6 billion of Advanced Disposal in October 2020. This acquisition allowed Waste Management Company to deliver access to sustainable waste management and recycling services to 3 million new commercial, industrial, and residential customers located in the United States.

During the forecast period, Asia Pacific is expected to record high growth in the waste transportation market

Increased pollution has resulted in the growth of waste transportation in the Asia-Pacific region specifically India. As per CPCB, 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic are generated in India which is approximately 9200 tonnes a day. Electronic waste has become a domestic issue in India. As per E-waste Management in India. It is the third largest generator of e-waste after China and is growing faster. This is mainly due to technological advancements and increasing income of people that increases the demand for electronic devices and throw them away when not in use or when the device wears out.

Furthermore, in 2021, India constructed 703 km of highways using plastic waste. In April 2021, MPCB (Maharashtra Pollution Control Board) formulated new guidelines to register informal waste management transportation services as most of the waste is generated in the informal sector and through these guidelines, it can be handled properly.

COVID-19 Insights

COVID-19 is expected to have a significant impact on the waste transportation market. As per WHO, more than a million medical wastes were generated in COVID-19 which has burdened the waste management system all over the world. As per their report, 140 million test kits generated 2600 tonnes of waste, of which plastic waste was the highest and 731,000 litres of chemical waste was generated as a result of vaccine doses administered globally, generating solid medical waste in the form of syringes, needles, and safety boxes. However, due to the nationwide lockdown, waste loading, transportation, and disposal were stopped in other industries as it exposed health risks to the workers engaged in this system. In 2020, CPCB in India launched a mobile application, the COVID-19 Biomedical Waste Management App to monitor the waste generated and the proper handling of waste throughout the nation.  As per the report, 45,954 tonnes of waste were generated which showed that India lacked well-equipped handling waste and disposal facilities.

Waste Transportation Market Scope:

Market Segments

• By Waste Type
  • Hazardous Waste
  • Municipal Waste
  • Industrial Waste
• By Mode of Transport
  • Rail Transport
  • Road Transport
  • Air transport
  • Sea Transport
• By Geography
  • North America
    • USA
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Others
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • France
    • United Kingdom
    • Italy
    • Others
  • The Middle East and Africa
    • Saudi Arabia
    • UAE
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • India
    • Indonesia
    • Others