Firms participating in the hazardous waste industry brought in a total of $5 billion in revenue in 2008, according to a new survey by Farkas Berkowitz & Co. Half of that amount was from collection and disposal services, and the remainder was from “adjacent and related services,” the survey says.

“Looking forward, 81 percent of survey participants expect revenues to decrease in 2009, but 67 percent anticipate that they will be able to maintain profit margins,” says a summary of the survey.

The 26 firms that responded to the survey operate 167 permitted hazardous waste facilities and received around 84 percent of the approximately 11 million tons of hazardous waste shipped to commercial facilities. Revenues for firms that participated in the survey ranged from less than $5 million to greater than $1 billion in 2008.