RWM 2016
Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition, RWM, is the most established resource management trade show in Europe, with a heritage stretching back nearly 50 years.
In the wake of the EU referendum, this three day long event presented an invaluable opportunity for important networking and learning.
Tuesday 13 September 2016
David Palmer-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK launched the company’s latest report, “A Resourceful Future – Expanding the UK Economy”.
He was joined by Dominic Hogg of Eunomia, the consultancy that wrote the report, and Marcus Gover, CEO of WRAP. The presentation took place in the SUEZ sponsored Circular Economy Connect theatre, which attracted over 100 delegates.
Stuart Hayward-Higham, Technical Development Director at SUEZ recycling and recovery UK was joined by Jacob Hayler (CEO of ESA) and Dan Cooke (Director of External Affairs for Viridor) for a panel discussion about the economic future of the energy-from-waste sector. The questions posed by the audience sparked an interesting debate about the direction in which the sector is heading.
Our final speaker on the first day of the event was Gev Eduljee, External Affairs Director of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK. He spoke on a lively panel discussing how Brexit may or may not impact the UK’s waste-resource economic roadmap. Gev was joined by Dan Cooke (Director of External Affairs for Viridor), Neil Grundon (Deputy Chairman of Grundon Waste Management), Ian Wakelin (CEO of Biffa) and John Glover (CEO of Bywaters).
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Stuart Hayward-Higham was joined by panellists Andrew Woodend (UK Government statistician from Defra), Paul Jennings (Director of Constructing Excellence in Wales), Jacob Hayler (CEO of ESA) and Stuart Blofeld (SMARTWater & Yellow Jacket Lead Trainer BRE). The speakers shared their views and experiences of the availability, accuracy and timeliness of waste data. Discussing how it could be better collected and reported and where they see the main challenges to be.
Andy Hill, Market Development Director of SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, was a panellist in a discussion about the future of refused derived fuel exports. He sat alongside Ben Wood (Editor at CIWM Journal), Pandora Rene (Senior Technical Advisor for the Environment Agency) and Adam Baddeley (Head of Energy at Eunomia).
In the afternoon, Ben Harding, Material Sourcing General Manager, presented our award-winning street sweeping recycling project. The presentation sparked interest and word spread so that by the evening it was being discussed at the CIWM Gala Dinner, by people who had been unable to attend the presentation during the day.
The final SUEZ event was a panel discussion debating whether the production of energy-from-waste is inhibiting the movement towards a circular economy. Stuart Hayward-Higham took park in the debate with Roy Hathaway (Policy Advisor for the ESA), Dr Adam Read (Practice Director – Resource Efficiency and Waste Management Ricardo Energy & Environment) and Stephen Wise (Associate Director for Environment and Infrastructure Europe, Amec Foster Wheeler).
The resource industry is facing uncertainty, but with that comes opportunity for development. Achieving industry targets is a challenge, as ever, but the current industry landscape is not inhibiting innovation.