Executive from Frost & Sullivan: Competition in hazardous waste disposal industry intensifies, with broad prospects for resource recovery

From an industry perspective, the development of the hazardous waste disposal industry is closely linked to industrial policies. Under the strategic background of the "dual carbon" goals and the construction of "waste-free cities," the state's attention to ecological civilization construction and environmental protection industry upgrading has been continuously increasing, with a series of policies and regulations introduced, such as the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Waste Recycling Systems" and the "Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control Law." These policies and regulations provide a favorable development environment for the hazardous waste disposal industry, promoting continuous improvement in industry prosperity.

At the same time, with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization in China, the generation of hazardous waste has been increasing year by year. Coupled with stricter governance and supervision of hazardous waste, more enterprises are standardizing hazardous waste disposal to meet environmental protection regulations, further releasing the demand in the hazardous waste disposal market and promoting continuous positive development of the industry. In addition, with rapid progress and development of technology, hazardous waste disposal technologies are continuously iterating and upgrading, not only improving processing efficiency but also reducing environmental impact, injecting new momentum into industry development.

Currently, the market competition in the hazardous waste disposal industry is relatively fierce, and the industry as a whole exhibits the characteristics of "scattered, small, and weak," meaning there are many enterprises but generally smaller in scale, with many enterprises having weaker technical, financial, and R&D capabilities, single disposal qualifications, and low market concentration.

Specifically, large enterprises such as Greenpeace, GaoNeng Environment, Conch Environmental Protection, Jin Yuan Co., Ltd., Shanghai Environment, Qing Xin Environment, Dongjiang Environmental Protection, etc., have certain advantages in hazardous waste treatment capabilities and technical strength, but account for a smaller proportion of the overall market. The rest of the market is composed of some small and medium-sized enterprises, which may have certain competitiveness in a specific niche field.

However, with the strengthening of environmental protection policies and continuous growth of market demand, industry competition is intensifying, leading to a slight decline in the market price of harmless disposal. Some small and medium-sized enterprises are facing greater operational pressure and even exiting the market. Large enterprises, due to their high degree of specialization, strong technical strength, and strong resource integration capabilities, can better meet the environmental protection requirements of enterprises and governments. It is expected that the industry concentration will gradually increase in the future, and large enterprises will occupy a more important position in the market.

There are mainly two methods for hazardous waste disposal in China: resource utilization and harmless disposal. Harmless disposal refers to reducing or eliminating the harm of hazardous waste to the environment and human health through physical, chemical, or biological methods. It is mainly processed through incineration, landfilling, etc., and although it can effectively prevent environmental pollution, its profit model mainly depends on disposal costs, and market competition is fierce, with prominent overcapacity issues. In addition, due to the high cost and low added value of harmless hazardous waste disposal, its market space is relatively limited. However, harmless disposal is indispensable when dealing with hazardous waste that cannot be resourcefully utilized.

Resource utilization refers to recycling and reusing hazardous waste as raw materials or fuels, extracting useful components from hazardous waste through physical, chemical, or biological methods, and converting them into standard products. From the perspectives of technology and economic benefits, solid waste resource utilization has higher added value and economic benefits, capable of converting waste into valuable resource products such as metals and salts.

Overall, solid waste resource utilization improves social resource utilization efficiency while conserving energy and protecting the environment, achieving a win-win situation of economic, social, and environmental benefits, which aligns with the strategic background of sustainable development. In recent years, it has received significant encouragement from national policies. It is expected that solid waste resource utilization will continue to be a key direction for the development of the hazardous waste disposal industry in the future, with broader prospects.