The German market is currently experiencing a major upswing in thermal waste treatment. In 2017, the Sewage Sludge Ordinance was amended and expanded, introducing restrictions on the recovery of agricultural sewage sludge. Also new is the obligation to recover phosphorous, which brings demand for new mono-sewage sludge incineration plants.

Pro­vid­ing gen­er­al plan­ning sup­port for the new con­struc­tion of the Werd­höl­zli ref­er­ence plant in Zurich gave us an advantageous experience that we have suc­cess­ful­ly ap­plied to nu­mer­ous oth­er projects. The spec­trum of projects ranges from fea­si­bil­i­ty stud­ies and in­te­gra­tion into waste in­cin­er­a­tion sites and over­all plan­ning of new plants, as seen in Wass­man­ns­dorf (Berlin), Frank­furt and Karl­sruhe.

Germany will require a range of enhancements and expansions in waste incineration and substitute fuel recovery in the coming years, which will call for the involvement of supplier-neutral planners. Due to high demand and healthy order books, we have further expanded the Böblingen site and moved even closer to our customers in northern Germany with the new Hamburg site established in 2018. This means that we are ideally positioned for future projects and can look forward to many exciting planning and development jobs.

We took our first steps in the Italian market more than 25 years ago, shortly after opening our branch office in Ticino. Since then, we have had the opportunity to develop numerous projects, including the Scafati wastewater treatment plant in Campania – which is, to date, TBF’s largest plant – and the modern, architecturally outstanding waste-to-energy plant in Bolzano. Projects such as these, as well as an active presence at environmental trade fairs and conferences, have allowed us to build an extensive network of contacts and to become a benchmark in the country’s waste treatment, wastewater treatment and sewage sludge disposal sectors.

The increased need for plants and infrastructure in the environmental sector will provide many business opportunities, despite the economic weakness the country is currently experiencing. Sewage sludge disposal is a particularly important topic at the moment, prompting many operators in the sector to adopt modern plant solutions to avoid finding themselves back in the emergency situations they experienced in the recent past. In 2018, we became involved in what is considered a flagship project in the Italian market: the Biopiattaforma di Sesto San Giovanni, which carries out anaerobic digestion of OFMSW and sewage sludge treatment for energy recovery.

With a dedicated team and more than 20 Italian-speaking specialists in the major engineering disciplines, we are looking to the future with enthusiasm and well-founded optimism!

Thanks to the opening of the Geneva branch office at the end of 2016, TBF has been able to use its geographical closeness to France to develop its expertise and acquire new projects. Along with the renewal project for the Paris-Ivry waste incineration plant, TBF has also acquired new mandates for waste treatment plants, including both new builds and renewals.

Since 2018, TBF has been a member of the SN2E syndicate (Syndicat National des bureaux d’Etudes Environnement), which brings together engineering firms specialising in waste management projects within FNADE (Fédération Nationale des Activités de la Dépollution et de l’Environnement). Being a member of this as­so­ci­a­tion has al­lowed TBF to bet­ter un­der­stand the in­tri­ca­cies of the French mar­ket, to ex­pand its client net­work and to en­hance its rep­u­ta­tion as an ex­pert in waste treat­ment.

There is considerable potential in the French market due to the renewal of operating contracts (either via public service delegation or service contracts) and the repercussions related to the application of the law on energy transition for green growth. TBF and its partners at the Geneva branch office will thus be able to take full advantage of this evolving market, thanks to the company’s constantly expanding network and the reputation it has gained through various projects over the past few years.