IE expo 2016: Strong demand for environmental solutions for the Asian market

China opts for more waste incineration and recycling

· 179 million tonnes of urban waste in China

· Rising demand for recycling technologies and incineration plants

· Waste disposal and recycling are central themes at the IE expo exhibition in Shanghai

With waste volumes increasing and landfill capacity declining, the Chinese government is looking more and more towards waste incineration and recycling. Experts estimate that the number of waste incineration facilities will rise to 220 by the end of the year. An increase in the recycling budget is also expected. All of this points to good business prospects on the Chinese environmental market, including for international suppliers of technology. IE expo, Asia´s leading environmental technology trade fair, will be bringing the demand and supply sides in this sector together in Shanghai, between May 5 and 7, 2016.

The volume of waste generated in China is continuing to rise. According to the Chinese Environmental Statistical Yearbook, in 2014 alone there were 179 million tonnes of urban waste to be disposed of. As much as 70 percent of this is currently ending up in landfill sites, and the capacity of these facilities is dwindling. Moreover these waste dumps are poorly equipped and that is endangering the ground water and the atmosphere.

Adapted technologies and engineering know-how are in demand

Against this background the government of the People´s Republic is moving more and more towards waste incineration. Until now there has been no widespread system of waste incineration plants in China. At the end of 2013 there were 164 such facilities in operation. Experts are expecting that by the end of this year that number will have risen to over 220.

This expansion in thermal processing in China is also benefiting international companies, for example those engaged in turnkey construction of entire waste-incineration plants, or in the supply of components, such as cranes, grabbers, control and filter systems, and also those engaged in installing upstream sorting and recycling facilities. “Competition from Chinese firms is rising, but foreign suppliers have a strong position because of their technologies and their engineering know-how,” says Corinne Abele, one of the China experts at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany´s economic development agency.

Sector experts expect higher investment in recycling

The rising volume of waste in China means recycling is becoming ever more important. Experts expect that in its next five-year plan the Chinese government will step up its budget in this area. In the period from 2011 to 2015 the equivalent of 42 billion US dollars was earmarked for the treatment of solid waste, of which around 3.3 billion US dollars was for sorting plant.

This means that the Asian recycling market is also becoming more attractive to companies in the environmental sector because demand is strong not only for methods of handling packaging waste, but also for treating sewage sludge and organic waste. Ms. Abele confirms this: “There are good opportunities, for example, for international technology suppliers who build drying, sorting and biogas plant adapted to local conditions and who can also in part operate these facilities.”

Waste and recycling solutions at IE expo in Shanghai

IE expo 2016 is taking up precisely these developments in the Asian environmental market and presenting waste-treatment and recycling solutions that are adapted to the Chinese market. Asia´s leading environmental technology trade show takes place from May 5 to 7, 2016 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). It brings together all the relevant market players from the sector. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive and in-depth technical and scientific conference program. With almost 1,100 exhibitors from 27 countries and over 40,000 visitors, the last IE expo in May this year again scored top marks and was able to record a significant increase in the number of firms in the section on recycling.

Application documents for exhibitors are available here online. 

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