Geosynthetics

How the Trump administration might affect coal ash regulation

Under the Obama administration, the EPA made unprecedented efforts to address what it saw as risks from the disposal of coal containment products (CCP), which includes the leaching of hazardous contaminants into the groundwater. In December 2015, the EPA finalized new regulations on the disposal of CCP, requiring utility companies to develop coal ash containment systems at new coal ash pits to address these dangers, including the installation of a geomembrane liner at the bottom of the storage area to protect against groundwater contamination. These initiatives were expected to boost geosynthetics demand going forward. However, the election of Donald Trump as president has thrown the future of these new regulations into significant doubt. In the run-up to the election, Trump promised to “end the war on coal,” implying that any regulations enacted under the Obama administration viewed hostile to the coal industry were likely to be repealed. The American Coal Council, among others, have long argued that overregulation unnecessarily sacrifices jobs in the pursuit of environmental purity. Given the consistency with which Trump has supported the coal industry on the campaign trail, complaints against regulations such as required geomembrane liners are likely to find a receptive ear at the head of the EPA in the coming four years.

Key Findings in the Geosynthetics Study

Rising construction activity and environmental regulations to fuel demand growth

US demand for geosynthetics is forecast to increase 3.8 percent annually to 1.3 billion square yards in 2019, valued at $2.5 billion. Projected rebounds in construction spending and expenditures on transportation infrastructure will spark an acceleration in demand

Construction is one of the largest markets for geosynthetics, representing about one-third of total demand in area terms in 2014. After a sluggish performance over the 2009-2014 period, growth will be driven by a rebound in building construction and an acceleration in spending for nonbuilding projects. Further bolstering growth will be the increased incorporation of geosynthetics into construction projects because they can reduce long term maintenance costs and increase the lifespan of structures. Geosynthetics are expected to further displace traditional soil and aggregate alternatives in construction applications thanks to marketing efforts by geosynthetics producers designed to further spread awareness of the cost and performance benefits of geosynthetics.

Transportation market to remain the largest

Transportation infrastructure represents an important market for geosynthetics, as geotextiles and geogrids find significant use in the construction and repair of the nation’s roads and highways. Through 2019, demand growth is expected to lag the overall average, in part due to uncertainty surrounding federal transportation infrastructure funding, which may cause new and reconstruction roadway projects to be put on hold. While geotextiles have long been used in the construction of roadways for their filtration properties, demand for geosynthetics in this market will grow as these products are increasingly used in other applications, including erosion control, roadside drainage, and the construction of retaining walls.

Environmental regulations to spur geosynthetics demand

Additional support for growth will come from environmental regulations that focus on preventing harmful materials from contaminating groundwater supplies. In the landfills, liquid containment, and other markets, geosynthetics demand is influenced by environmental regulations regarding the storage of hazardous substances. Regulatory activity concerning proper storage practices at landfills and other sites boosts demand for geomembranes in particular. For example, in December 2014 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized regulations regarding the disposal of coal combustion products (CCPs). Concerns about the leaching of these harmful materials into groundwater led the EPA to require that storage sites be lined with a geomembrane to prevent leakage.

Geotextiles represent the largest product category

Geotextiles account for the largest share of geosynthetics demand by area due to their versatility, which makes them appropriate for a wide variety of applications. In value terms, geomembranes, which are significantly more expensive per square yard than other types of geosynthetics, account for the greatest share of total sales and are also expected to register the fastest growth through the forecast period. Geomembranes find significant use as liners in landfills and are also used in CCP containment and water impoundment applications at shale oil and gas sites. More application-specific products -- geogrids, geonets, geosynthetic clay liners, and geofoams -- are also expected to register demand gains, although from smaller bases.

Study coverage

This Freedonia industry study analyzes the $1.0 billion US geosynthetics industry. It presents historical demand data (2004, 2009 and 2014) and forecasts (2019 and 2024) by product (geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids, geonets, geosynthetics clay liners, preformed geocomposites), market (construction, transportation infrastructure, landfills, liquid containment, mining, oil and gas, coal combustion products), and region. The study also considers market environment factors, details industry structure, evaluates company market share, and profiles 44 industry competitors, including GSE Holding, Hanes Geo Components, Propex, Raven Industries, TenCate Geosynthetics, Tensar, and Thrace-LINQ.

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  1. Geosynthetics

    $5,300.00

    1. 1 INTRODUCTION

      $126.00

    2. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

      $144.00

      1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

    3. 3 MARKET ENVIRONMENT

      $3,078.00

      1. 3.1 General

        $82.00

      2. 3.2 Macroeconomic Environment

        $243.00

        1. Table | MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS

      3. 3.3 Demographics

        $212.00

        1. Table | POPULATION & HOUSEHOLDS

      4. 3.4 Construction Trends

        $966.00

        1. Table | CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES

        2. 3.4.1 Residential Building Construction Expenditures

          $408.00

          1. Table | RESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES

          2. Table | HOUSING STARTS

          3. Table | HOUSING STOCK BY TYPE

          4. CHART II-1 YEAR OF CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSING STOCK, 2014

        3. 3.4.2 Nonresidential Building Construction Expenditures

          $258.00

          1. Table | NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDING CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES

          2. Table | NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDING IMPROVEMENT & REPAIR EXPENDITURES

          3. Table | NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDING STOCK

        4. 3.4.3 Nonbuilding Construction Expenditures

          $83.00

          1. Table | NONBUILDING CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES

        5. 3.4.4 Nonbuilding Construction Stock

          $103.00

          1. Table | NONBUILDING CONSTRUCTION STOCK

      5. 3.5 Highway Spending

        $142.00

        1. Table | HIGHWAY SPENDING BY TYPE

      6. 3.6 Agricultural Trends

        $232.00

        1. Table | AGRICULTURAL INDICATORS

      7. 3.7 Waste Stream Overview

        $151.00

        1. Table | MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE GENERATION, RECOVERY, & DISPOSAL

      8. 3.8 Environmental & Regulatory Issues

        $288.00

      9. 3.9 Raw Materials

        $257.00

        1. Table | RAW MATERIAL DEMAND IN GEOSYNTHETICS

        2. 3.9.1 Resins

          $178.00

        3. 3.9.2 Other Raw Materials

          $82.00

      10. 3.10 Pricing Trends

        $86.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS PRICING

      11. 3.11 Foreign Trade

        $344.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS FOREIGN TRADE

        2. 3.11.1 Imports

          $128.00

        3. 3.11.2 Exports

          $101.00

      12. 3.12 World Market

        $123.00

        1. CHART II-2 WORLD GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND, 2014

    4. 4 PRODUCTS

      $2,335.00

      1. 4.1 General

        $82.00

      2. 4.2 Area Demand

        $98.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS AREA DEMAND BY PRODUCT

        2. CHART III-1 GEOSYNTHETICS AREA DEMAND BY PRODUCT, 2014

      3. 4.3 Value Demand

        $82.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS VALUE DEMAND BY PRODUCT

        2. CHART III-2 GEOSYNTHETICS VALUE DEMAND BY PRODUCT, 2014

      4. 4.4 Geotextiles

        $661.00

        1. Table | GEOTEXTILES DEMAND BY TYPE & MARKET

        2. 4.4.1 Demand by Market

          $82.00

        3. 4.4.2 Product Characteristics

          $82.00

        4. 4.4.3 Demand by Type

          $425.00

          1. Table | NONWOVEN GEOTEXTILES DEMAND

          2. Table | WOVEN & KNIT GEOTEXTILES DEMAND

      5. 4.5 Geomembranes

        $495.00

        1. Table | GEOMEMBRANES DEMAND

        2. 4.5.1 Demand by Market

          $124.00

        3. 4.5.2 Product Characteristics

          $243.00

        4. 4.5.3 Producers

          $82.00

      6. 4.6 Geogrids

        $212.00

        1. Table | GEOGRIDS DEMAND

        2. 4.6.1 Demand by Market

          $82.00

        3. 4.6.2 Product Characteristics

          $82.00

        4. 4.6.3 Producers

          $82.00

      7. 4.7 Other Geosynthetics

        $637.00

        1. Table | OTHER GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY PRODUCT & MARKET

        2. 4.7.1 Geonets

          $101.00

        3. 4.7.2 Geosynthetic Clay Liners

          $160.00

        4. 4.7.3 Preformed Geocomposites

          $100.00

        5. 4.7.4 All Other

          $223.00

      8. 4.8 Geosynthetics Demand by Material

        $97.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY MATERIAL

    5. 5 MARKETS

      $1,739.00

      1. 5.1 General

        $82.00

      2. 5.2 Area Demand by Market

        $120.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS AREA DEMAND BY MARKET

        2. CHART IV-1 GEOSYNTHETICS AREA DEMAND BY MARKET, 2014

      3. 5.3 Value Demand by Market

        $110.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS VALUE DEMAND BY MARKET

        2. CHART IV-2 GEOSYNTHETICS VALUE DEMAND BY MARKET, 2014

      4. 5.4 Construction

        $487.00

        1. Table | CONSTRUCTION GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

        2. 5.4.1 Demand by Product

          $119.00

        3. 5.4.2 Market Characteristics

          $301.00

      5. 5.5 Transportation Infrastructure

        $292.00

        1. Table | TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

        2. 5.5.1 Demand by Product

          $104.00

        3. 5.5.2 Market Characteristics

          $114.00

      6. 5.6 Landfills

        $230.00

        1. Table | LANDFILL GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

        2. 5.6.1 Demand by Product

          $106.00

        3. 5.6.2 Market Characteristics

          $82.00

      7. 5.7 Liquid Containment

        $201.00

        1. Table | LIQUID CONTAINMENT GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

        2. 5.7.1 Demand by Product

          $82.00

        3. 5.7.2 Market Characteristics

          $82.00

      8. 5.8 Other Markets

        $267.00

        1. Table | OTHER MARKETS GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND

        2. 5.8.1 Mining

          $82.00

        3. 5.8.2 Oil & Gas

          $82.00

        4. 5.8.3 Coal Combustion Products

          $82.00

    6. 6 REGIONS

      $2,292.00

      1. 6.1 General

        $82.00

      2. 6.2 Regional Demographics & Economic Activity

        $441.00

        1. 6.2.1 Population Patterns

          $147.00

          1. Table | POPULATION BY REGION

        2. 6.2.2 Economic Outlook

          $136.00

          1. Table | GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY REGION

        3. 6.2.3 Construction Activity

          $121.00

          1. Table | CONSTRUCTION EXPENDITURES BY REGION

      3. 6.3 Geosynthetics Demand by Region

        $1,795.00

        1. Table | GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY REGION

        2. CHART V-1 GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY REGION, 2014

        3. 6.3.1 Northeast

          $400.00

          1. Table | NORTHEAST GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY SUBREGION & MARKET

        4. 6.3.2 Midwest

          $486.00

          1. Table | MIDWEST GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY SUBREGION & MARKET

        5. 6.3.3 South

          $394.00

          1. Table | SOUTH GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY SUBREGION & MARKET

        6. 6.3.4 West

          $414.00

          1. Table | WEST GEOSYNTHETICS DEMAND BY SUBREGION & MARKET

    7. 7 INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

      $5,143.00

      1. 7.1 General

        $82.00

      2. 7.2 Industry Composition

        $118.00

        1. Table | US GEOSYNTHETIC SALES BY COMPANY, 2014

      3. 7.3 Market Share

        $196.00

        1. CHART VI-1 US GEOSYNTHETICS MARKET SHARE, 2014

      4. 7.4 Competitive Strategies

        $144.00

      5. 7.5 Research & Development

        $82.00

      6. 7.6 Marketing

        $116.00

      7. 7.7 Distribution

        $82.00

      8. 7.8 Mergers & Acquisitions

        $102.00

        1. Table | SELECTED ACQUISITIONS & DIVESTITURES

      9. 7.9 Cooperative Agreements

        $98.00

        1. Table | SELECTED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS

      10. 7.10 Company Profiles

        $4,147.00

        1. 7.10.1 ADS Incorporated

          $170.00

        2. 7.10.2 AGRU Kunststofftechnik GmbH

          $119.00

        3. 7.10.3 Belton Industries Incorporated

          $82.00

        4. 7.10.4 Brawler Industries LLC

          $82.00

        5. 7.10.5 Bridgestone Corporation

          $86.00

        6. 7.10.6 Carthage Mills Incorporated

          $141.00

        7. 7.10.7 CONTECH Engineered Solutions LLC

          $147.00

        8. 7.10.8 Cooley Group Holdings Incorporated

          $91.00

        9. 7.10.9 Dow Chemical Company

          $122.00

        10. 7.10.10 DuPont (EI) de Nemours

          $130.00

        11. 7.10.11 Environmental Fabrics Incorporated

          $82.00

        12. 7.10.12 Glen Raven Incorporated

          $101.00

        13. 7.10.13 GSE Holding Incorporated

          $288.00

        14. 7.10.14 HUESKER Synthetic GmbH

          $131.00

        15. 7.10.15 Inteplast Group Limited

          $82.00

        16. 7.10.16 Leggett & Platt Incorporated

          $189.00

        17. 7.10.17 Leucadia National Corporation

          $88.00

        18. 7.10.18 Low & Bonar plc

          $97.00

        19. 7.10.19 LyondellBasell Industries NV

          $82.00

        20. 7.10.20 Mannington Mills Incorporated

          $82.00

        21. 7.10.21 Minerals Technologies Incorporated

          $145.00

        22. 7.10.22 Nilex Incorporated

          $142.00

        23. 7.10.23 Plastatech Engineering Limited

          $82.00

        24. 7.10.24 Poly-America LP

          $82.00

        25. 7.10.25 Polymer Group Incorporated

          $106.00

        26. 7.10.26 Propex Operating Company LLC

          $138.00

        27. 7.10.27 Raven Industries Incorporated

          $136.00

        28. 7.10.28 Reef Industries Incorporated

          $82.00

        29. 7.10.29 Reynolds Group Holdings Limited

          $112.00

        30. 7.10.30 Royal Ten Cate NV

          $223.00

        31. 7.10.31 Saint-Gobain

          $106.00

        32. 7.10.32 SKAPS Industries Incorporated

          $82.00

        33. 7.10.33 Solmax International Incorporated

          $82.00

        34. 7.10.34 TENAX SpA

          $87.00

        35. 7.10.35 Tensar Corporation

          $228.00

        36. 7.10.36 Thrace Plastics Company SA

          $149.00

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