Innovation and collaboration on show at Waste Expo Australia 2017

Waste Expo Australia is over for another year, with the annual conference and exhibition inspiring and educating more than 3000 visitors from the waste management and resource recovery sector across two days earlier this month.

Waste Expo Australia 2017 was held from 11–12 October alongside All-Energy Australia, thus creating Australian Sustainability Week — a showcase of waste management, recycling, renewable energy and energy efficiency technology that brought together pioneering companies and product solutions set to revolutionise the sector. It was made possible with the support of key industry associations including the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR), the Australian Industrial Ecology Network (AIEN), the Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA), the City of Melbourne, the Metropolitan Waste and Resource Recovery Group (MWRRG), the National Waste Recycling Industry Council (NWRIC), Sustainability Victoria and the Vinyl Council of Australia (VCA).

The event organisers attribute the success of Waste Expo Australia to the inclusion of the free-to-attend Waste Summit, sponsored by Volvo Trucks. Visitors attended packed sessions featuring Grant Musgrove from ACOR, Max Spedding from NWRIC and senior representatives from MWRRG, the Environment Protection Authority Victoria and AIEN. One particular highlight was Spedding’s call for policy reform, industry planning and the development of a truly circular economy.

The exhibition aisles at Waste Expo Australia were filled with visitors eager to speak with the more than 70 companies showcasing the latest product innovations. Featuring suppliers such as Eze bale, Volvo Trucks, Caterpillar, Steinert, Bost Group, OWS NV, Cleanaway and Solar Bins, the expo represented a broad cross-section of the waste management and resource recovery sector.

The event also featured Waste Evolution, a technology showcase that hosted never-before-seen prototypes and products. This included live demonstrations from Green Eco Technologies’ WasteMaster range, which is apparently able to reduce the volume of food waste by up to 80%, and Deakin University’s 3D printing technology, which turns plastic waste into granules that is then converted to filament used to create infrastructure parts.

The next edition of Waste Expo Australia will take place from 3–4 October 2018 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.