Was Report: an exclusive capital of knowledge about the waste management and recycling industry.
The annual report aims to provide a broad and detailed picture of the sector, overcoming the current sectorial, technical and partial statistical approaches.
The 2024 study, titled “Waste Management: the complexity of change”, is structured around the following key areas:
1. The domestic waste sector
- Top players
- Economic and financial performances
- Investments
- Economic and financial performances
- Operators involved in sorting and valorization
- Major companies and their economic profiles
- Industry evolution and consolidation
- Major companies and their economic profiles
2. The transformation over the years
- The gradual convergence between urban and special waste sectors
- Impacts of technological advancements
- Entry of players from other sectors
- The evolution of compliance schemes
3. The industrial waste sector
- Major utilities active in industrial waste management
- Economic and financial performances
- Dominant strategic trends
- Economic and financial performances
4. Strategic Trends
- Main initiatives carried out in 2023
- Developments anticipated for 2024
5. The Italian infrastructures for waste management
- Facilities for organic waste treatment
- Status of PNRR-funded plants under M2C1 Line 1.1 B
- New challenges: photovoltaic panels, chemical recycling of plastics and textiles
6. Critical materials and decarbonization
- Regulatory measures on critical raw materials and related initiatives
- The CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) and its potential impacts on the waste management sector
Highlights of the WAS Annual Report 2024
The 2024 edition of the WAS Annual Report, summarized here, outlines a waste management sector experiencing growth and increasing consolidation, driven by numerous acquisitions over the years. Ongoing changes, fostered by innovation and by both European and national circular economy policies, are redefining corporate strategies within the industry.
The domestic waste sector
The value of production (VP) of the Top 120 public and private players in the collection, treatment, and/or disposal of urban waste (UW) amounts to € 11.8 billion, reflecting a 3.8% increase compared to the previous year. The sector’s consolidation continued during the year, with the average VP rising from € 94.4 million in 2022 to € 98 million in 2023. The operational efficiency, measured by metrics such as urban waste managed per number of employees and VP per number of employees, varies significantly across the clusters analyzed.
The transformation over the years
The waste sector has undergone extraordinary changes in the more than ten years since the first WAS Annual Report in 2014. Key transformations include the convergence between domestic waste and industrial waste (SW), the increasing role of research and innovation, the entry of companies from other industries, the development of new materials and recycling solutions, and the evolution of compliance schemes.
The industrial waste sector
At least one-third of urban waste players are also active in the special waste sector, including 23 utilities that generated half of the total value of production, approximately € 5.9 billion. Additionally, there are 59 other companies whose turnover reached € 4.7 billion in 2023, reflecting a 12% increase. Profitability, measured as EBITDA/VP, is notably high, rising from 11% to 14%. Companies have focused on acquiring other companies, entering into collaboration agreements, and launching new projects, particularly those aimed at improving the efficiency of treatment and recovery processes.
Strategic Trends
The initiatives decreased from 45 to 33, returning to 2014 levels, although the variety in strategies, players, and business areas involved remains significant. Most of these operations are acquisitions and sales of company shares (55% of the total), followed by collaboration agreements (27%). The primary strategies behind are consolidation (33.3%) and growth outside the original sectors through the acquisition of new activities (27.3%).
The Italian infrastructures for waste management
The waste management infrastructure landscape remains highly varied across the territory, with significant disparities by sector and geographic area. These differences are particularly evident in facilities for the treatment of organic waste, especially when considering the projected demand for 2035. At the same time, more than half of the projects funded under the M2C1 Line 1.B of the PNRR are progressing through the implementation phase, although some have reported challenges. Future sector challenges include the management of photovoltaic panels, chemical recycling of plastics, and textiles.
Critical materials and decarbonization
European policies are promoting greater security in the supply of critical raw materials and reducing emissions across various sectors. In the case of critical raw materials, this is driving the development of new facilities and processes. However, the impacts on the waste management sector, particularly in terms of emissions reductions, are harder to define. The CBAM mechanism, for instance, has introduced a set of provisions that, if not properly analyzed and managed in the short term, could significantly affect the financial planning of both European and non-EU companies.