INSIGHTS - OCTOBER 2024

UK Waste Collection Industry

UK Waste Collection Industry Information

The waste collection industry includes the collection, treatment, disposal and recovery of waste materials such as household waste and, hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

Active Businesses

8,222

Annual Sales

£26bn +

Employees

102,700

Economic Contribution 

£7bn

Tags

Location of Waste Collection Companies

Waste Collection Companies by Size

49% Micro

35% Small

10% Mid

5% Large

1% Mega

Waste Collection Companies by Age

30% Established

25% Young

22% Startup

21% Mature

1% New

Fastest Growing Waste Collection Companies

29% Declining

25% Healthy

20% Rapid

17% High

9% Low

Waste Collection Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers

Waste Collection Industry Valuation

EBITDA Multiple

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Waste Collection Industry Valuation

Turnover Multiple

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Waste Collection Industry Valuation

Net Asset Multiple

Data only available to Pomanda Pro subscribers.

Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery Industry Insights

There are 8,222 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £26 billion .

The Industry employs around 102,699 people and contributes £7 billion to the economy.

The most popular location for Waste Collection companies is London with 1,304 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 209.

The largest Waste Collection company is European Metal Recycling Limited with a turnover of £4.1bn. 49% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 10% Mid companies.

21% of the Waste Collection Industry is made up of 21% Mature but the majority are Established businesses (30%) the oldest company is Singleton Birch Limited founded in 1875.

Waste Collection industry has a number of high growth companies (17%), the fastest growing company is Urbaser Environmental Limited with a 3 year growth rate of 109%. Other fast growing companies include Ward Group Holdings Limited (91%), Wastecare Compliance Plc (66%) and Exfavilla Limited (63%).

The UK Waste Collection Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 11.05x, Turnover multiple of 1.65x and a Net Asset multiple of 4.03x.