The Latin American network of Solid Waste Managers, RELAGRES, convenes for its fifth edition, and first in Europe, on the 12th and 13th of June, and will feature important speakers, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the European Commission and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)

The city of Mataró has been chosen as the venue for the Fifth International Seminar of the Latin American Network of Solid Waste Managers, RELAGRES, which will be held in June. This is the most important event – in terms of the number and relevance of the attendees – that a Latin American delegation of public decision-makers on waste management has ever held in Europe. The Latin American Network of Solid Waste Managers, RELAGRES, is holding its Fifth Edition in Mataró thanks to the work of the Consortium for Municipal Solid Waste Treatment of Maresme, in collaboration with the Barcelona Provincial Council and the Catalan Waste Agency, with technical collaboration from the Environmental Forum Foundation.The meeting will be held on the 12th and 13th of June 2017 and will bring together more than 250 public decision-makers, managers and other significant figures in waste management, among them more than 80 Latin American delegates from countries such as Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Panama or the Dominican Republic. Success stories, experiences and the main challenges of the sector will be addressed during two days at the installations of the Mataró Tecnocampus. Among the speakers, organisations of global relevance stand out, such as the Inter-American Development Bank (BID), the European Commission and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), as well as other major players in the waste management field of Latin America and Europe. The seminar, whose theme this year is the contribution of waste towards sustainable development and climate change, is open to both the public and private sector, and will facilitate networking spaces to find out first-hand, from their public decision-makers, the real situations of the different Latin American countries. There will also be a visit to the Maresme Integral Centre for Waste Recovery.Latin America and the Caribbean represent 12% of the world’s generation of solid municipal waste, a quantity which will double by the year 2025, reaching 398 million tonnes annually. However, the percentage of municipalities who have waste management plans is less than 20%, which demonstrates the low level of municipal planning for the sector. More information:www.seminariorelagres2017.org@sem_relagres #RELAGRES2017#Residuos