China Waste to Energy Industry

China Waste to Energy Market Analysis

The China Waste to Energy Market is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 4.75% during the forecast period.

• Over the long term, favorable government policies and increasing investments in the country are expected to drive the market.
• On the other hand, the emission of harmful gases generated from waste-to-energy plants and the ash produced from these plants, which needs to be disposed of safely, usually in landfills, leading to groundwater contamination, may also hinder the growth of the market.
• However, the daily per capita waste generation in the region is expected to increase by nearly 40% by 2050. Thus, the increasing volume of municipal waste and rising demand for energy in the region are expected to create an opportunity for the waste-to-energy market in China in the future.

China Waste to Energy Market Trends

Thermal-based Waste-to-Energy Conversion to Dominate the Market

• In 2019, China became one of the prominent countries that installed the world's largest incineration plant (the Shenzhen East waste-to-energy plant). The plant can process 2.7 million ton of waste per year and generate 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of power per year.
• Plants that utilize cogeneration of thermal power (heating and cooling), along with electricity generation, are estimated to reach optimum efficiencies of 80%.
• Presently, 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, leading to a significant improvement in terms of environmental sustainability.

Increasing Investments to Drive the Market

• China is the second-largest producer of municipal waste in the world. Therefore, it initiated waste sorting plans in 2017 and aims to build 100 zero-waste cities by 2025.
• The country's disposed waste increased from 158 million ton in 2010 to 248.7 million ton in 2021, an increase of around 57.4%.
• Under Chinese President Xi Jinping's plan to tackle pollution, the incineration industry is expected to continue its expansion and replace stinky, polluting, land-intensive garbage dumps. With its massive population producing vast quantities of garbage (increasing by 8-10% annually), China is looking for new facilities that burn solid waste to produce electricity.
• By 2025, China's solid waste generation is expected to double to more than 500 million metric ton annually. This factor is further expected to create a huge demand for waste treatment facilities in the country during the forecast period.
• Such factors are expected to drive the market for waste to energy in China during the forecast period.

China Waste to Energy Industry Overview

China's waste-to-energy market is moderately fragmented. Some of the key players are (in no particular order) China Everbright International Limited, Zheneng Jinjiang Environment Holding Co. Ltd, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc., Covanta Holding Corporation, and Veolia Environnement SA.

China Waste to Energy Market Leaders

China Waste to Energy Market News

• In October 2022, Jieyang Green Fuel Plant was successfully commissioned after a 21-day performance testing period. The Jieyang plant converts 401.500 t/a municipal solid waste (MSW) into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) with high calorific value and recyclables.
• There are no other recent developments in the market studied.