The Middle East’s leading business and networking event for sustainable waste management, the EcoWaste Exhibition & Forum, returns to Abu Dhabi, UAE for an eighth edition from January 17 to 19, 2022, that will be co-located with the World Future Energy Summit.

Held in partnership with Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center – Tadweer as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2022, the global event will be critical to the resumption of focus on the circular economy model and the means necessary to get there – two global priorities that became more urgent in the aftermath of recent developments, as well as a purposeful effort within the larger framework of environmental action.

EcoWaste will bring together the Middle East and North Africa region’s most prominent waste management stakeholders, with investors, entrepreneurs, innovators and technology providers standing to make most gains from the business, sponsorship and partnership opportunities the exhibition is forecasted to create. The event will examine how recent world events have resulted in new attitudes to waste management, the benefits of reducing, reusing and recycling, and evolving approaches to waste. A special focus will be dedicated to realistic ways in which to reduce single-use plastic and how technology will increasingly impact the decisions taken within the industry.

Dr Salem Khalfan Al Kaabi, Director General, Tadweer, said: “EcoWaste plays a vital role in the waste management industry, with a platform that has quickly become essential for public and private enterprises alike. This is the place to go to explore new solutions in sustainable waste management, forge partnerships, learn from successful programmes and examine the latest know-how."

“The event has become as a solid foundation for proactive initiatives in waste management as well as other aspects of sustainable development in Abu Dhabi, and it continues to assume its role as an incubator for action, partnerships and ventures aiming to bolster Abu Dhabi’s economy and connect with other initiatives around the world,” he added.

Grant Tuchten, Group Event Director of the World Future Energy Summit said "EcoWaste is the waste management industry's central platform, where all stakeholders come together to sharpen global waste management efforts with innovative technology, advances in engineering, and inspiring ideas. It is at EcoWaste that future developments and business partnerships are born,” he concluded.

The benefits from a circular economy to the public purse, society and environment around the world are enormous, with a study, published in Entrepreneur magazine, estimating $7 billion in new revenue opportunities from recycling for cities and recyclers, 250–350 million metric tonnes less carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, 80 million tons of material recovered from residential single-stream recycling and 30 million more households with acces to convenient recycling.

Locally, targets set by the UAE include treating 75 percent of municipal solid waste by 2025 and 85 percent by 2035, as well as reducing municipal solid waste generation to 1.4kg per person per day by the year 2025. The UAE Government’s moves are at the forefront of a global trend that saw many countries turn to waste management for the creation of new value chains, and as a steppingstone toward the knowledge economy.

The EcoWaste Exhibition will host global technology innovators including Dulevo, Green Mountains, Thor ME and Al Shirawy Group, Terberg RosRoca, German Distribution, Gorica Group and MG Recycling. The EcoWaste Forum will host industry experts including Ronald Richa, GM Plastic Recycling, Veolia – who will speak on packaging and manufacturing; Pablo Arribere Jimenez, Senior Director – Operational Excellence & Innovation, Bee’ah that will present on mapping waste management services using technology; and Youssef Chehade, Managing Partner, Ecyclex who will speak on recycling electronic waste.