United States Waste to Energy - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

United States Waste to Energy Market is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 7.26% during the forecast period.

COVID-19 negatively impacted the market in 2020. Presently the market is likely to reach pre-pandemic levels.

Key Highlights

• Over the long term, the increasing amount of waste generation, growing concern for waste management to meet the need for sustainable urban living, and increasing focus on non-fossil fuel sources of energy are driving the demand for the waste-to-energy market.
• On the other hand, the country still needs more suitable policies and regulations concerning WTE, and factors such as high capital investment, increasing the recycling rate of waste, and several other factors have been restraining the growth of the WTE market.
• Technological advancements in the waste-to-energy sector are expected to create significant opportunities for plant operators in the near future.

US Waste To Energy Market Trends

Thermal Based Waste to Energy Conversion to Dominate the Market

• Thermal technology is expected to account for the highest market share in the worldwide waste-to-energy market during the forecast period, owing to the increasing development of waste incineration facilities worldwide.
• It is estimated that plants, which utilize cogeneration of thermal power (heating and cooling), together with electricity generation, can reach optimum efficiencies of 80%.
• In the present scenario, incineration is the most well-known waste-to-energy technology for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) processing. However, waste-to-energy technologies, particularly incineration, produce pollution and carry potential health safety risks. To reduce particulate and gas-phase emissions, incineration plant owners have adopted a series of process units for cleaning the flue gas stream, which has, in turn, led to a significant improvement in environmental sustainability.
• In 2021, nearly 431 trillion British thermal units of energy derived from waste were consumed in United States. To reduce particulate and gas-phase emissions, the owners of incineration plants have adopted a series of process units for cleaning the flue gas stream, which has, in turn, led to a significant improvement in terms of environmental sustainability.
• In May 2022, New Jersey-based waste management company Covanta Holding Corporation announced that it is making enough electricity to power 18,000 homes from the waste collected from American Airlines, Quest Diagnostics, Sunny Delight, and Subaru through thermal-based technology.
• Hence, owing to the above points and the recent developments, thermal-based waste-to-energy is expected to dominate United States Waste-to-Energy Market during the forecast period.

Increasing Recycling Rate of Waste in United States to Restrain the Growth of the Market

• The waste recycling rate in United States has been growing in recent days due to the increase in population and growing waste across the country. According to United States Environmental Protection Agency, the recycling rate has increased from less than seven percent in 1960 to the current rate of 32 percent.
• The recycling of waste offers various environmental benefits by reducing air and water pollution. In the year 2021, the country witnessed 4.70 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, which is comparatively lower than 4.98 billion tonnes of Co2 emissions generated in 2019.
• In 2021, 64 U.S. power plants generated about 13.6 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from burning about 28 million tonnes of combustible MSW for electricity generation. Biomass materials accounted for about 61% of the weight of the combustible MSW and for about 45% of the electricity generated.
• Also, in the year 2021, only 5% of the plastic waste generated by United States households was recycled. The Americans discarded 51 million tons of wrappers, bottles, and bags, and about 309 lb of plastic per person, of which almost 95 percent ended up in landfills, and oceans or scattered in the atmosphere in tiny toxic particles.
• The new government policies are aimed at restricting high carbon emissions. This factor is hindering the growth of the incineration process. In addition, the increase in recycling of municipal solid waste to 60% by 2035 is expected to affect the market for incineration as well.
• Owing to the above points, the increasing recyling rate of waste in United States is expected to restrain the growth of the country's waste-to-energy market during the forecast period.

US Waste To Energy Industry Overview

The US waste-to-energy market needs to be more cohesive. Some of the major players in the market (not in particular order) include Covanta Holding Corp, Waste Management, Inc., Suez SA, Martin GmbH, and Wheelabrator Technologies Inc.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

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