What is the ISWA World Congress?

The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) strives for sustainable and professional waste management worldwide. ISWA, the International Solid Waste Association, is a non-profit association that promotes the development of a professional and sustainable waste policy at a global level. The ISWA World Congress which is being held in Antwerp is the annual highlight in the waste industry's calendar. From the 7th to the 9th of September 2015 1,300 experts, professionals, academics, policy makers and NGOs will flock to Antwerp to discuss the challenges and the scientific and technological developments and trends for the waste sector.

What is this ISWA World Congress about?

The leitmotif running through the congress is the circular economy, or more specifically the role that waste can play in the world market for raw materials. This is because (valuable) raw materials can be recovered from waste, which will have consequences for waste and materials management worldwide. The congress is looking for an answer to a number of vastly different questions: how is waste related to the raw materials market? Which role should governments, industry and consumers play? Which new measures are now vital?

So why Antwerp?

The choice of Antwerp is no coincidence, Flanders being a shining example in the field of waste and materials management. Best practices and leading technologies are clearly demonstrated by the waste management companies that are active in and around Antwerp, the third largest port in Europe and the second largest petrochemicals cluster in the world. This is also the case for Indaver, who are helping to organise the congress.

What is Indaver doing?

ISWA is organising this congress in conjunction with six partners: Indaver, ISVAG, Interafval, the City of Antwerp, OVAM and Fost Plus. Indaver will be applying its waste-to-energy expertise in its capacity as organiser of a workshop on trends in waste-to-energy and a break-out session on how to extract as much energy as possible from waste in different parts of the world. CEO Paul De Bruycker is the keynote speaker in the session on the treatment of hazardous waste. On the second and third day of the congress there is a technical visit to Indaver Antwerp, where we carry out the final treatment of all types of hazardous and industrial waste. Indaver will also be sharing its knowledge on all aspects of waste-to-energy during a practical master class that is being organised at ISVAG.

Waste-to-Energy

The waste-to-energy session will shed light on the waste-to-energy landscape from a high-level perspective. Modern trends and the most significant implications of each technology will be addressed. Waste-to-energy is regarded as an essential aspect of sustainable waste management, whereby the focus is not only on the environmentally-safe removal of waste but also on the maximum recovery of materials and energy. The presentations will explore in greater detail the various opportunities and innovative concepts for recovering more energy from waste and doing this more efficiently. These cover topics such as flexible energy production, industrial heat networks and the integration of anaerobic fermentation with a grate incinerator. Finally, we would encourage a rousing debate amongst all the participants at the event.

Further information

Further information about this congress can be found on the ISWA and Indaver websites.

http://iswa2015.org/

http://www.indaver.be/en/news-media/events/iswa-world-congress/