Size of environmental services sector in the Netherlands, 1995-2001

The number of companies and profitability in the environmental services sector stabilised in recent years; total revenue has doubled since 1995.

			1995	1998	1999	2000	2001
Number of companies			502	595	600	597	599
Workforce (x 1 000)			11.8	16.1	19.5	20.3	21.3
			millions of euros
Investments			860	490	290	369	345
Total revenue			2 016	2 935	3 319	3 716	4 116
of which
	revenue from environmental services		1 828	2 607	2 924	3 320	3 674
	among which
		from operating landfill sites	236	230	252	267	241
		from operating
		composting plants	82	90	108	116	124
	other sales		91	157	218	267	242
	other operating revenue		98	171	177	129	201
Result before tax			195	105	130	154	189
among which
	operating landfill sites		62	64	69	51	77
	from operating
	composting plants		-9	2	5	3	9
			%
Profitability1)			11	4	4	5	5
among which
	from operating landfill sites		26	28	27	19	32
	from operating
	composting plants		-11	2	5	3	7
Source: CBS (2003).						CBS/EDC/May03/0390
1) Results before tax as a percentage of the revenue from environmental services.

Development of environmental services

In recent years, the number of companies in the environmental services sector has been stable at approximately 600. The companies continue to grow. Profitability is fairly stable at approximately 5%. Between 1995 and 2001, total revenue doubled from 2 to more than 4 billion euros, but investments fell sharply during this period.

Development of private waste companies

Private companies that collect or dispose of waste make up an important part of environmental services sector. These companies play an increasingly important role on the waste market. This is due to the expansion of existing businesses, the establishment of new businesses and the hiving-off or privatisation of services in the public sector. Existing companies are mainly growing as a result of takeovers and mergers: companies from other sectors are acquiring interests in companies in the waste sector, but more and more waste companies are starting to supply services throughout the entire waste sector, integrating all the processes from collection to disposal within a single concern.
During the 1990s waste companies invested billions of euros in new processing equipment.

Definition of environmental services

In addition to private waste companies, the environmental services sector includes sewer-cleaning services and the cleaning up of environmental pollution. The activities of these companies result in the reclamation of valuable materials and the generation of energy from collected and processed wastes with virtually no scrap value.

In addition to the companies in the environmental services sector that collect and process waste, Statistics Netherlands also distinguishes between companies that trade waste (including residual substances) and upgrade it for reuse. In the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) of Statistics Netherlands, these companies are classified under Recycling industries (SIC Code 37) and Wholesale trade in waste and scrap (SIC Code 5157).

References

• CBS (2003). Statline. Productiestatistieken milieudienstverlening en voorbereiding tot recycling. Statistics Netherlands, Voorburg/Heerlen.

Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium

• Waste generation and method of processing, 1985-2001
• Waste generation and method of disposal, specification 1999-2001 (page is not available yet)
• Waste generation and processing by target sector in the Netherlands, 1990-2001*
• Guide to Environmental pressure from Waste management companies , for information about emissions during the processing of waste.
• Dutch environmental costs by theme, 1985-2002
• Costs of landfill and waste incineration in the Netherlands, 1985-2002
• Rates for some environmental levies, green taxes and disposal charges in the Netherlands, 1990-2003*
• Revenue from disposal charges in the Netherlands, 1995-2002
• Recycling industries in the Netherlands, 1995-2001

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

• More data about environmental services can be found on Statline (Statistics Netherlands).