They are explosive or flammable, toxic or corrosive. And yet these substances are valuable resources for some companies. This is because hazardous waste such as solvents, waste oil, laboratory chemicals and car batteries must be disposed of safely so that they no longer pose a risk. The market for hazardous waste is expected to grow even faster than the waste management sector as a whole in the coming years, as regulations for hazardous waste are becoming stricter worldwide and hazardous waste often contains important raw materials that can be recycled using the appropriate technology.

Several acquisitions have brought the industry into focus in recent months. Veolia, for example, has just announced its intention to buy the American hazardous waste specialist Clean Earth from Enviri for 3 billion dollars. In the months prior to this, the environmental services provider had already acquired five local players in Brazil, Japan and the USA for 300 million euros. In France, meanwhile, the sale of the Flamme Group at the beginning of the year sparked considerable interest. The family-owned company, which specialises in hazardous waste and operates two incineration plants in the north of the country, was sold for 300 million euros – three times its turnover – to the Séché Environnement Group, which is also family-owned.

Almost all players involved in the hazardous waste business had their eye on Flamme, especially Suez. The environmental services provider, which is no longer listed on the stock exchange, lost two-thirds of its turnover when Veolia took over a large part of its international activities. Although it is still active in the hazardous waste business, it is no longer one of the leading European providers. In addition to market leader Veolia, these include the Rethmann company Remondis from Germany with its hazardous waste subsidiary Remondis Industrie Services, Indaver from Belgium, Tradebe from Spain and Séché from France.

In the USA, where Veolia is now moving up from number three in the industry to number two behind Clean Harbors with its acquisition of Clean Earth, other leading providers include Arcwood Environmentals and Republic Services. Apart from Clean Harbors, Republic Services, Séché and Veolia, none of these hazardous waste specialists are listed on the stock exchange. According to Manuel Andersen, Head of Investor Relations at Séché, the hazardous waste business is actually a niche market. However, it is benefiting from strong trends, as the disposal of hazardous waste also involves issues such as health, the environment and biodiversity.

While Veolia estimates the global waste market at 1,300 billion euros this year, the French CAC 40 group estimates the global market for hazardous waste at 35 billion euros. However, Veolia expects it to grow by 3.5% per year until 2030, compared with only 3% for the normal waste business. Hazardous waste is therefore one of the three growth drivers, alongside water technology and local and bioenergy, on which Veolia is focusing in its strategic plan for the future.

The global leader in the waste management business aims to increase its hazardous waste revenue by 50% by 2030 and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) by 10% per year by 2027. By way of comparison, Veolia's hazardous waste business most recently generated revenue of 4.3 billion euros in 2024, while revenue for the entire waste management business amounted to 15.7 billion euros. However, with an EBITDA of 14%, the division has so far been slightly less profitable than all of the group's activities combined, which reported a total EBITDA of 15.2%. However, EBITDA for the hazardous waste business is now expected to grow by an average of at least 10% per year between 2024 and 2027 thanks to higher volumes, investments and efficiency gains.

According to information from the investor portal „Investir“, Veolia has a 37% market share in hazardous waste in its home market of France, followed by Séché with 25% and Suez and cement manufacturers with 17% each. Séché expects revenues of 1.7 billion euros this year. Hazardous waste accounts for 70% of this. This makes the group almost twice as large as its Belgian competitor Indaver, which operates three hazardous waste facilities in Hamburg, Biebersheim and Antwerp and generated total revenues of 945 million euros last year.

In comparison to Veolia and Remondis, Séché is relatively small. The Rethmann company from Lünen posted a turnover of 13.2 billion euros in 2024 with its entire waste business. Its subsidiary Remondis Industrie Services, which specialises in hazardous waste, has 133 locations worldwide in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, China, Taiwan and Thailand, but not in the US, where Veolia will significantly expand its presence with the acquisition of Clean Earth.

Thanks to the acquisition, which will be completed in the middle of next year, the CAC 40 group will gain locations in ten US states where it has not previously been represented, primarily in the south-east and north-west of the country. „This is a turning point for our international development,“ says Veolia CEO Estelle Brachlianoff. Since the acquisition of most of Suez's activities three years ago, the purchase of Clean Earth is the transaction that will transform Veolia the most. It will not only enable the environmental services provider to double its hazardous waste revenue in the US, after generating 1.3 billion euros in revenue in North America last year. According to Brachlianoff, the acquisition will also increase the turnover of the entire hazardous waste division to 5.2 billion euros and EBITDA to 17%.

The market for hazardous waste in the US is less structured than in Europe, but is also growing faster at a rate of over 5% per year. This is because the disposal of hazardous waste is essential for key industries undergoing change, such as technology, semiconductors, environmentally friendly energies and health. The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to further fuel demand, as the huge data centres required for this generate a lot of electronic waste, which often contains hazardous substances such as mercury and lead.

The threat to public health posed by pollution is also likely to boost the hazardous waste business. There is growing demand for solutions to treat water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or forever chemicals. Veolia CEO Brachlianoff announced a year ago that she wanted to increase revenue from 50 million euros to 1 billion euros by 2030.