International activities in phytoremediation: Industry and market overview

Phytoremediation, the use of plants to remove, destroy or sequester hazardous substances from the environment, is an innovative technology that has quickly gained a foothold in the United States market, while also attracting substantial interest outside the U.S. Several dozen companies and numerous nonprofit research groups are conducting research on phytoremediation or are using it commercially, with perhaps 200 or more field remediations or demonstrations completed or underway around the world. The 1998 U.S. market of $16.5-29.5 million could grow to $214-370 million by 2005.