Record-setting at IFAT 2018, International leading trade fair for water, wastewater, waste and secondary raw materials management
Filtering of microplastics, more effective recycling of plastics and the digital transformation of the entire industry: for five days, the world’s leading trade fair for environmental technologies IFAT 2018 revolved around the issues of the management of water, sewage, waste and raw materials management. The industry’s products are in rising demand all over the world.
More than 141,000 expert visitors from more than 160 countries came to Munich between May 14 and 18, 2018 (2016: 136,885 visitors). Above all, this means a rise of IFAT’s internationality. The highest growth came from (in this order): Japan, Russia, Australia, China and Slovenia. In total, 3,305 exhibitors from 58 countries presented their products and innovations for the booming environmental industry.
Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff, Chairman of the IFAT Advisory Board and Managing Director of KIRCHHOFF Group drew a positive conclusion: “The IFAT 2018 is another impressive example of an excellent platform for municipal and private disposal companies as well as the water, sewage, waste and raw material industry.” The next IFAT takes place in Munich from May 4 to 8, 2020.
In this context, Run4Life project organised a parallel event in which representatives from all key sectors related to integrated nutrient recovery took part, like the European Sustainable Phosphorous Platform, the German Phosphorous Platform, solution providers, EU projects on resources recovery and other stakeholders. Water2REturn was one of the projects presented, transmitting to the audience how it contributes to achieve the event main motto: "The importance of transforming the value chain in a virtuous circle through the integrated recovery of nutrients.
Thus, topics nutrient recycling technologies, decentralised sanitation and water reuse, from research to implementation, were discussed. A summary of the event can be found at the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform eNews.