Europe is the largest waste to energy plants market in the world with a very well developed infrastructure and over 429 installed plants in 2008. However, the delay in obtaining environmental and other permits has restrained the growth of this market considerably, Frost & Sullivan says.

London - According to Frost & Sullivan, a new analysis, European Waste to Energy Plants Market, finds that the market earned revenues of EUR 3.10 billion in 2008.

The stress from the European Union to shift away from landfills towards better alternatives has indirectly helped the waste to energy business. This diversion of waste from landfills has resulted in the planning and commissioning of many waste-to-energy plants in the last 5 years.

“The most important driver for the waste to energy plants market in Europe has been the Landfill Directive and its waste diversion targets,” confirms Frost & Sullivan Research Associate Karthikeyan Ravikumar. “This has resulted in the diversion of waste from landfills to waste-to-energy plants.”

Countries such as France and Germany have the largest number of waste to energy plants. Such plants have facilitated the effective treatment of waste diverted from landfills, enabling these countries to reach successfully their landfill diversion targets. In addition to the Landfill Directive, the growing demand for power, paralleled by volatile oil prices, has made waste to energy plants a viable alternative for the disposal of waste.

However, the delay in obtaining environmental and other permits has restrained the growth of this market considerably. “The process of obtaining an environmental permit for the construction of a waste to energy plant is quite tedious and a substantial amount of time is spent on it,” cautions Ravikumar. “The delay affects the price of raw materials and, thereby, the overall revenues.” Furthermore, the current economic slowdown would influence the prospects for market expansion.

“The slowdown will restrict the amount of investment flowing into the waste to energy plants business”, Frost & Sullivan says. “The drop in investments will undoubtedly affect plants that are in the planning stage and that are on the look out for finance. This could result in projects being delayed or postponed by a year or two.”

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides a brief synopsis of the research and a table of contents, then send an e-mail to Chiara Carella, Corporate Communications, at chiara.carella@frost.com, with your full name, company name, title, telephone number, company e-mail address, company website, city, state and country. Upon receipt of the above information, a brief brochure will be sent to you by e-mail.

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