Municipal Solid Waste Management

Municipal Solid Waste Management

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management provides services to the general public and private firms in regards to waste collection and disposal. The MSW industry is highly competitive and has been consolidating over the past several years. The solid waste management industry can be divided into hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste. Non-hazardous waste is disposed in landfills, incineration, and waste to energy (WTE) plants. There are 4,000 small firms that are candidates for acquisitions by six large firms in this $36 billion industry. Solid waste disposal is reliant on the strength of the economy bolstered by new construction and discretionary spending. Hazardous waste is either collected for solvent recovery or fuel blending. There are almost 200 small firms dominated by two major firms in this $2.35 billion industry.

Product Value Chain (PVCh) Chart

The focal industry is the municipal solid waste (MSW) consisting of both hazardous and non-hazardous. The general public and companies supply the waste and sometimes using construction and demolition companies as intermediaries. The MSW industry relies on transfer points, trucks, railways, and barges to transport the materials to the buyers. The buyers consist of landfills, incineration plants, recycling, and firms that commit fuel blending and solvent recovery.

Scope Chart

The MSW industry is the encompassing circle. The hazardous and non-hazardous industries are rivals. WTE or transfer stations does not relate with hazardous wastes. These substitutes are associated to the non-hazardous industry. Both hazardous and non-hazardous are faced with alternative technologies, such as the bio-reactor technology and electronic recycling, that are forming substitutes.

Identify the Players

Rivals - The solid waste management market consists of two market segments, municipal solid waste, and hazardous solid waste. The competitors in the municipal solid waste segment are Waste Management, Allied Waste Industries, Republic Services, Casella Waste Systems, Waste Connections, and Waste Industries USA. The competitors in the hazardous solid waste segment are U.S. Liquids and Safety-Kleen.

Buyers - The buyers of the solid waste management industry are landfills, incineration plants, and recycling companies.

* Landfills - The landfills are a collection of all the non-hazardous wastes.

* Incineration plants - Incineration plants convert waste to energy and are then sold to energy plants.

* Recycling companies - Recycling companies are compliments of the industry by giving an alternative method of waste management. Recycling tends to be more numerous in crowded areas where disposal costs are higher.

Suppliers - Suppliers in the solid waste industry can be divided into three main groups.

* Construction and Demolition companies - By building and reconstructing new or current projects, these companies add to the waste.

* Companies and firms - Companies and firms generate waste from producing goods and services.

* General Public - The general public waste can be categorized by two segments. Waste can be generated by "need spending". These items consist of food, clothes, and housing. Discretionary spending creates waste such as packaging and electronics.

Substitutes - Burning waste in your own facility or creating your own storage area for waste can be an alternative.

Complementors - Complementors of this business may be the Bioreactors. The Bioreactors can help clear the air in the landfill areas. It will reduce the amount of landfill area by at least 10 % to 15 %. With the more landfills, the more Bioreactors will be needed. It will benefit both the waste management as well as the technology industry.

Strategic Groups

Hazardous Waste Companies - Since the early 1980s, classification of hazardous waste has changed. It is no longer considered "hazardous", much of it is now referred as "special" waste. It would be considered non-hazardous waste if its toxic characteristics can be contained or removed. These firms are in search of a niche market. The hazardous waste industry is declining. Industrial waste byproducts are declining which attributes for a large portion of the hazardous industry.

Non-hazardous Waste Companies - Non-hazardous waste companies involves the collection, disposal, and recycling of solid waste. Over the past few years, the non-hazardous waste companies have been consolidating but they remain highly competitive and fragmented. According to Standard and Poor's environmental and waste management industry survey, they believe that "U.S. demand for municipal solid waste services will rebound gradually with the economy".

As displayed above in the strategic group map, the industry can be divided into two groups which are hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The two main differences are the primary line of business and the amount of waste each group processes. The hazardous has the capability to move into the non-hazardous industry by eliminating or extracting the hazardous materials. On the other hand, the non-hazardous cannot do the same. The hazardous firms are currently in the niche market, but are attempting to diversify because of the hazardous materials being reclassified. However, the attempt to diversify will be at the hazardous firm's expense. With all the reclassification of the hazardous products, the hazardous companies will lose business and non-hazardous firms will gain business. The non-hazardous firms will receive additional business due to the fact that formerly hazardous products are currently being reclassified.

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