There are hard times ahead for European plant engineering companies. Johannes Martin of Martin GmbH für Umwelt-und Energietechnik predicts that the European market for waste incineration technology will contract to less than half its current volume in the coming years. Among the reasons for the projected fall in demand was the situation on the UK market. Responsible for so many new contracts in recent years, the British market was now almost saturated. "I now expect to see another four to six contracts, at most,” said Martin GmbH’s managing partner on Monday at the Berliner Abfall- und Energiekonferenz.
It remained unclear where new markets could be found to replace the dwindling demand in Europe, Mr Martin added. The Central European markets which to date had been so important to the plant technology industry - Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland - were "practically dead" and there would be no further waste incineration plants built there. Scandinavia, too, was nearing market saturation.
In Southern and South-eastern Europe, there was a need for waste to energy facilities as the proportion of waste consigned to landfill remained high. Nevertheless, only a few scattered projects were in development. Similarly, the market in Eastern Europe remained questionable despite the enormous opportunities there. Particularly in Poland, the hopes of plant engineering companies had gone unfulfilled.
