infrastructure sector

solid waste

Facilities and systems for the collection and processing of vast amounts of organic and inorganic solid waste materials generated by human beings and our activities has become an increasingly daunting task.  Whereas, many decades ago, solid waste was often simply dumped in to landfills, oceans and/or burned, thanks to environmental concerns and regulation, disposal of solid waste is now tightly regulated in most modern countries.  In the past decades, many countries have enacted policies requiring the separation and/or sorting of organic (compostable) and non-organic waste.  Furthermore, many of the non-organic materials that can be commercially recycled (such as many metals, glass, plastic and paper) are also required to be separated and/or sorted.  Other solid-waste materials, which may contain hazardous materials, chemicals and compounds (such as many electronic components, batteries, oil, paints and solvents, etc.) may need to be separated and sent to separate processing centers altogether.   The combined concerns over pollution of water and air pollution related to solid waste disposal, combined with finite space to landfill vast quantities of solid waste, has led to many varied and innovative logistical, technological and industrial solutions in the solid waste industry over the past several decades to deal with the requirements to collect, separate, sort, process, recycle, reuse, generate power, and safely incinerate, landfill or store large quantities of solid waste.

From a functional perspective, the solid waste business can be categorized into three main categories: 1) solid waste collection; 2) solid waste recycling and processing; and, 3) solid waste landfill/storage and waste-to-energy plants.  DCS experts are well-equipped to advise our clients across all areas of the solid waste industry.

We not only help our clients finance, develop and efficiently operate and maintain solid waste infrastructure assets, but we also aim to assist in developing sustainable long-term plans, strategies and programs for regional solid waste management, and aligning capital investments in infrastructure assets and sound asset renewal and maintenance programs.  The following links provide more specific information related to our advisory coverage of the specific solid waste asset classes that we cover.

• ​​Solid Waste Collection Systems
• Recycling and Processing Facilities
• Landfills and Waste-to-Energy Plants

In the solid waste sector, DCS experts can add significant value through application of innovative technologies and processes, and public-private partnerships.  Our advisory services help our clients align the capabilities of private sector capital, innovation, "know-how", efficiencies, life-cycle operational and maintenance discipline, and management resources with the public sector objectives of most efficiently providing safe, efficient, environmentally-responsible solid waste services to consumers at affordable prices (solid waste tariffs and fees and taxes).  We can also assist our clients in identifying and procuring suitable vendors, technology and service providers in the solid waste sector.   Our experts also have significant experience and competence in delivering solid waste infrastructure assets within various market model contexts, including under a regulated or deregulated utility regime, and public-private partnership contractual models such as regulated user-fee, availability or hybrid concession agreements.  

In many client cases, there may also be a significant nexus between solid waste, energy, and transport assets (and potentially other infrastructure sectors that we cover).  For example, there may be opportunities for generation of power through a biomass co-generation plant which consumes sewer sludge by-products, solid waste and other organic materials (biomass such as wood and agricultural based waste products).  Solid waste collection systems also interplay with regional transportation networks and both can benefit from comprehensively planned innovative urban transportation and intelligent transport systems.  Waste-to-energy plants, which are often used to supply power to solid waste processing and wastewater treatment facilities can be timed to provide peak power output during the peak electricity (as well water/wastewater) demand hours, which can lead to significant savings on power costs for those entities and the public rate payers and taxpayers.  We take a client-focused, multi-sectoral approach to our advisory services, where combining our expertise in both water and energy (and other complementary sectors) will result in added-value and innovative results for our clients.

Please click on the below links to learn more about the specific services related to the solid waste infrastructure sector that DCS experts can offer:​

• ​Transaction Advisory
• Project/Program Management
• Strategic Planning
• Feasibility Studies
• Debt and Equity Capital Raising
• Contract Drafting & Negotiation
• Financial Modeling, Review and Audit
• Business and Asset Valuation​
• Tender Management: RFEI/RFQ/RFP
• Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory
• Corporate Governance
• Training and Capacity Building

DCS focuses on providing the above services in the solid waste infrastructure segment to the following categories of clients:

• Financial Sponsors
• Corporations
• Governments
• Utilities
• Lenders
• Regulators​
• Advisors & Investment Banks
• International Financing Institutions
• International Organizations

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