Efficiency and value for money at Futuresource 2010w
Voted the UK’s favourite waste and recycling event1 following its successful launch last year, the Futuresource conference and trade fair returns in 2010 with a focus on efficiency and value for money.
Organised by CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) and ESA (Environmental Services Association), the event brings together the sustainable waste management, recycling and resource efficiency sector and its major client base under one roof. With some 350 exhibitors, a full conference programme and an expected 9000 attendees from across Europe, Futuresource is designed to provide the right platform for public, private and third sector professionals to come together and debate the future of resource management, its capacity to drive sustainable economic growth and its potential to help mitigate climate change issues which will influence policy and service delivery for years to come.
One of the major aims of the event is to stimulate dialogue and partnerships that will help the sector tackle some of the challenges ahead, not least the economic climate. The three-day Futuresource conference has ‘More from Less’ as its core theme, with speakers looking at critical issues including infrastructure funding and delivery, partnership working, efficiency in service provision, and smarter decision making on technology choice. On the exhibition floor, meanwhile, a wide range of organizations will showcase practical solutions, services and products designed to enhance productivity and keep costs down while still protecting the environment.
‘These are challenging times, and Futuresource 2010 will help waste and resource management professionals to deliver better environmental services with fewer resources and smaller budgets,’ says Steve Lee, chief executive of CIWM.
Exhibitors will also have the chance to get in front of more senior public sector procurement professionals than ever before, thanks to a new co-location agreement with Guardian News & Media’s (GNM) sector-leading Public Procurement Show 2010. The two exhibitions will be located in adjoining halls and registered visitors will be free to move between events.
Underpinning the event’s aim to be Europe’s leading sustainability event, Futuresource has teamed up with a number of high profile supporting organisations, including the Energy Institute and the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management, and is expanding its international reach. Last year, the event attracted attendees from 52 countries and the strong partnership forged with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), which brought in 13 inward delegations last year, will again be a feature in 2010.
‘Futuresource has given the UK a world class event, making it an essential place to be for those wishing to be part of the EU’s largest development market for environmental services. We will offer a strong European and international context to the programme,’ says Dirk Hazell, chief executive of ESA.
Showcasing the Future
The Futuresource trade fair, which is already 75% sold, offers visitors the opportunity to meet an array of technology and service suppliers in six themed zones: recycling and composting; waste and waste water management; air, energy and climate change; street scene and facilities management; professional services; and vehicles and plant. From the UK’s big waste contractors – including Waste Recycling Group, Veolia Environmental Services, SITA UK, Cory Environmental Ltd, and Viridor Waste Ltd – and plant suppliers such as JCB and Finning/CAT, to specialist pollution control and energy management technology providers, the very latest waste and resource management solutions from the UK and Europe will be under the one roof. In addition the Environment Agency, Defra, Welsh Assembly and WRAP will be there.
Collection and transport are high on the agenda again this year, and Volvo is the latest big name to take stand. The company says it will use the show to promote its complete range of municipal chassis, mainly from the lighter-weight FL and FE ranges, plus its new UK specific 26 tonne low entry cab – the FE LEC – launched last month. Amanda Hiatt, Marketing & PR Director at Volvo Trucks, says: ‘This year, Volvo is keen to secure a 10% share of the refuse collection market with our new FE low-entry cab and we see this event [Futuresource 2010] as the ideal showcase.’
There will many other innovations on show too from leading providers including Bradshaw Electric Vehicles, Mercedes Benz UK, Mitsubishi Fuso, Dennis Eagle, BMC plc, Heil Europe, Ecofar UK, Terberg Matec, Geesink Norba and Farid UK.
With infrastructure development being acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges facing the sector, the 2010 exhibitor line-up also underlines the growing interest in the sector from construction and civil engineering companies and the finance sector. Balfour Beatty, Costain Ltd, May Gurney Ltd, Vinci Environment UK, Volker Fitzpatrick, Raymond Brown Group, and BAM Nuttall Ltd have already signed up, as well as financial institutions including Bank of Ireland and Clydesdale Bank plc.
In addition to networking with exhibitors, visitors can access over 50 free seminar sessions which are being run over the three days at Information Theatres located within the exhibition. The full programme will be released in April but it will include seminars on topical issues from the Environment Agency, WRAP, Valpak, the Energy Institute and the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management.
Sauce Consultancy and CIWM are also teaming up again to host a Communications Hub, where visitors can hear an array of speakers including national journalists and experts debate some of the communications challenges that face our industry. Last year, Rosie Boycott, former editor of the Daily Express and chair of the London Food Board, delivered a stimulating talk on how to engage the public and praised the efforts of the waste and recycling industry in communicating the benefits of recycling. The Hub is designed to help industry professionals to feel more confident about engaging with the media, and visitors can get advice on media relations and take advantage of free media training sessions.
Other exciting new developments for the 2010 event will include more networking facilities on the exhibition floor and a low carbon demo arena in the Vehicles & Plant Zone which will include electric and hybrid drive vehicles, plant and equipment.
’More from Less’ conference theme explores the big issues
The three day conference programme will tackle all the current challenges and opportunities facing the waste and resource management sector, as well as the latest policy and legislative developments. It opens with a strategic look at global and European policy developments and their impact on the UK. Hilary Benn MP, the current Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the UK and his Conservative counterpart Nick Herbert are already confirmed as speakers, and the line-up also includes guests from the European Commission and the UK Climate Change Panel. Focusing on the various waste strategies now in place across the UK in the afternoon, speakers from the devolved administrations will explain and debate the concept of ‘zero waste’ and how it will affect the policy framework in the future.
Day two focuses on partnerships, which will have a major role to play in the future, particularly with the significant efficiency savings that will be expected of local authorities in the future.
Shifting the emphasis higher up the Waste Hierarchy is the opening topic on day three, when speakers from central and local government, the private sector and the legal profession will look at how the Waste Framework Directive will drive waste prevention and re-use in the future.
‘It promises to be an exciting event,’ says Steve Lee, chief executive of CIWM.
Full details about Futuresource 2010, including free visitor registration, can be found at www.futuresourceuk.com. More information about the Public Procurement Show is available at www.publicprocurementshow.com
1 Local Authority Waste & Recycling poll, www.lawr.co.uk, September 2009
