NEWS RELEASE          JUNE 1998

By 2002 world annual expenditures for soil and groundwater clean up using bioremediation and phytoremediation techniques will increase to $1.1 billion up from $870 million in l997. According to the McIlvaine Company in its new report Site Remediation World Markets 1998-2002, popularity of soil incineration and groundwater pump and treat techniques is waning while new technologies are proving to be more economical approaches to remediation. Despite the popularity increase of bio and phytoremediation they will account for only 5 percent of the total $25 billion site remediation market in 2002.

In contrast to other remediation techniques bio and phytoremediation require little capital outlay. However these techniques provide improvements more slowly than alternatives. Bioremediation is a treatment process which uses naturally occurring microorganisms to breakdown hazardous substances into less toxic substances. Bioremediation is used to treat both contaminated soil and water. Phytoremediation is the use of plants and trees to clean up contaminants such as metals, pesticides, solvents, and crude oil.

Annual bio and phytoremediation expenditures are presently highest in Europe with the Americas close behind. If site characterization and analysis including redevelopment (Brownfields) is included, the U.S. market is bigger than other regions. But when it come to actual remediation efforts, Europe is larger.

Asian expenditures were only $200 million in 1997 but they will increase to over $300 million in 2002 thanks to stepped up efforts in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. In the Americas segment in 2002 bio and phytoremediation expenditures to clean up ground water will be $208 million while expenditures to clean up soils will be $207 million resulting in total Americas expenditures of $415 million. In the Europe/Africa segment in 2002 $234 million will be spent for groundwater remediation and $222 million for soil remediation using bio and phytoremediation techniques for a total of $456 million.

In l997 12.5 million cubic yards of soil were treated by bio and phytoremediation worldwide. By 2002 the quantity will rise to l6.6 million cubic yards. Worldwide 242,000 gpm of groundwater were treated by these techniques in l997. The flow will increase to 325,000 gpm in 2002. The quantity is still far less than the 832,000 gpm subject to pump and treat methods using carbon adsorption or the 1,000,000 gpm subject to pump and treat using air stripping methods.

The largest application for bio and phytoremediation is to remediate landfills and hazardous waste dumpsites. In the Americas segment military applications rank second whereas in the Europe/Africa segment and in Asia petroleum contaminated sites are the second largest application.

For more information on the Site Remediation World Markets 1998-2002 report: click here