Press Release - October 2026

• The hazardous waste management market was valued at €1.69 billion in 2025, up 7% year-on-year, amid increasingly stringent regulation that continued to drive activity.

• The leading groups continued to strengthen their position through acquisitions of other companies. The top five operators accounted for 58% of the total market in 2025; the top ten, over 70%.

• INFORMA's DBK Sectoral Observatory recently published these insights in the “Waste Management” Sectoral Report.

Madrid, 20 October 2026.- According to INFORMA's (Cesce's subsidiary) DBK Sectoral Observatory—a leading provider of business, financial, sectoral, and marketing information in Spain and Portugal—the hazardous waste management market was valued at €1.69 billion at year-end 2025, which was 7% higher than in 2024, when it rose by 9%.

Revenue therefore remained on an upward trend, amid increasingly stringent waste regulation and growing demand for emerging hazardous waste management. The total volume of hazardous waste managed stood at over 2 million tonnes per year, representing just under 3% of the total volume of waste managed, both hazardous and non-hazardous.

By type, chemical waste accounted for most of the volume managed, with a share of 21.5% of the total, followed by waste from batteries and accumulators (13.9%), combustion waste (11.4%) and acidic, alkaline or saline waste (11.1%).

Recovery remained the main destination for hazardous waste managed, at 71% of the total, followed by landfill (23.5%) and incineration (5.5%). The highest recovery rates corresponded to waste from batteries and accumulators, used oils, discarded equipment, chemical waste and used solvents, all above 85%.

More than 180 companies operated in the collection, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste segment, employing about 6,000 workers. The supply structure mainly comprised small companies with specialised, local operations, generally with Spanish shareholders. Alongside these, a smaller number of large companies and groups operated, some of them with foreign capital.

Thus, activity was led by a small group of large, broadly diversified competitors, which continued to strengthen their position in the sector via acquisitions of other companies, driving a progressive increase in concentration. In 2025, the top five operators held a combined market share of 57.9%, rising to 72.2% when considering the top ten.

Data Synthesis