The Congress consolidates itself as the most important meeting point for sustainable waste management

The international congress RECUWATT, which will take place in the Tecnocampus in Mataró-Maresme on the 27th and 28th October will deal with subjects such as efficiency and sustainability of resources, collective responsibility in waste management, waste-to-energy, and the circular economy.

The congress has established itself as the meeting point of reference for sustainable waste management. It will offer a unique programme with first class content, distributed into six themed blocks, with more than 30 top speakers, many holding institutional posts.

The day before, on the 26th, a preliminary day will take place destined exclusively for local administrations and public service managers with the aim of looking for answers to integrated waste management in Spain.

On the 27th, and after the inauguration of the event by the president of the Maresme Consortium and mayor of Mataró, David Bote Paz, there will be a special presentation by Víctor Küppers, “Humorous reflections”, followed by four themed blocks of special interest.

In the first of these, ‘Towards efficiency and resource sustainability”, which will be moderated by the honorary president of the Foundation for the Circular Economy Jean Pierre Hannequart, the challenges and future objectives of waste management in a world of scarce and expensive resources will be tackled, encouraging debate and reflection on the strategic role that should be developed by the sector within the framework of the circular economy.

Participating will be Antonis Mavropoulos, president of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA); Gunther Wolf, managing director of the Environment department of the European Commission, and Antonio Valero, managing director of the Centre of Investigation and Research and Energy Consumption (CIRCE) at the University of Zaragoza.

Under the title “Collective responsibility in waste management”, a second block will take place, in which the functions of education, communication, transparency, and economic incentives will be examined.

Moderated by Rafael Arjona, president of the National Association of Environmental Public Companies (ANEPMA), the participants will be Stéphane Arditi, responsible for the policy of Products and Waste at the European Environmental Office; Sandra Pina, manager of Sustainable Brands Spain (Communication for Innovation and Sustainability); Michal Len, manager of RREUSE (European Platform of Social Companies for Reuse, Repair and Recycling), and José Antonio Corraliza, Professor of Social Psychology and Methodology at Madrid’s Autonomous University.

After a locally sourced lunch, the third block will open, Information Systems and economic sustainability in waste management”, where the themes of technology and efficiency will be discussed, and tools for the strategic management of information, innovation and the improvement of public services will be presented.

Moderated by Jordi Renom, president of the Association of Industrial Engineers of Catalonia, the speakers will be Esteve Almirall, director of the Innovation Centre for Cities ESADE; Climent Vilatersana, managing director of MOBA Spain (Project Mawis Smart Waste); José Luis Núñez, expert in Smart Cities at Telefónica, y Víctor Martínez, head of management of Urban Quality and Mobility from the Town Hall of Sant Cugat del Vallés.

In the final block the details of “Waste-to-energy or how to apply the waste hierarchy” will be revealed, showing a vision of the different technologies which allow us to take advantage of the energy found in the non-recyclable fraction, and showing the advantages and problems they have and their suitability to real requirements.

In this case the moderator will be Rafael Guinea, president of AEVERSU (Spanish Association of Waste to Energy Urban Solid Waste Companies), and the speakers will be César Gimeno, managing director of the Waste Consortium of Guipuzkoa (GHK), who will talk about Guipuzkoa’s new project; Volker Wiesendorf, from Hitachi Zosen Inova, who will be unveiling improvements in the treatment of bottom ash and the recovery of precious metals, and Christophe Cord’homme, from the energy recovery workgroup ISWA.

The day ends with a visit to the Castle of Santa Florentina in Canet de Mar (one of the sets for the sixth season of the famous series ”Game of Thrones”).

THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY AS A PARADIGM SHIFT

The 28th begins with “Call for papers”, a section in which the best presentations received by the organisational committee of RECUWATT are brought together. These presentations have been selected due to their qualities of innovation, disruption, and added value in the field of waste management.  

Under the direction of Joan Gaya, president of ACEVERSU (Catalan Association of Waste to Energy Companies), participants will be Mireia Barba, founder of Espigoladors (social enterprise); Manuel Fernández Cabezas,  general manager of Plastics Europe; and Sergio Puyol, technical manager of dondelotiro.com.

The next block, “Circular Economy: a new conceptual and economic model” will be directed by Fernando Leite, CEO of Lipor (Portugal), who will be accompanied by Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland; Lorena Jurado, of the Chamber of Commerce in Catalonia; Nia Owen, of Ricardo Energy & Environment, and Margarita Muñoz, director of Environment and External Relations for Mercadona.

After a special session and a reflection on RECUWATT and its future, the final section will be conclusions and closure, where the “Alfonso Maíllo” award for best poster will be presented, continuing with interventions from Josep María Tost, manager of the Catalan Waste Agency, and David Bote Paz, president of the Maresme Consortium and mayor of Mataró.

The final activity organised by the congress will be a technical visit to the Maresme Waste Recovery Centre.