Waste Expo Australia has grown from strength to strength since starting in 2013. The expo provides a platform dedicated to advancing best practices in waste management and making a positive difference to the environment and community.
This free-to-attend event is the largest gathering of waste management and resource recovery professionals in the country, looking for ways to transform material use, ensure effective recovery, and reduce waste sent to landfills.
Exhibition Director Samantha Martin is thrilled to see Waste Expo Australia attract leading experts worldwide.
“We have four streams featuring more than 120 speakers across 60 sessions for 2024,” Samantha says. “If the excellent content wasn’t enough, it also features over 100 leading suppliers from 12 countries.”
The expo regularly attracts thousands of industry professionals drawn to the exhibition and the many keynote speeches and panel sessions.
“We spend a lot of time consulting with industry to assemble a high-quality program,” Samantha says. “We are already seeing several high-level industry experts from across the world wanting to speak at this year’s event. That illustrates how important this event is to the sector.”
In 2023, Waste Expo Australia featured keynotes from the Victorian Government, Recycling Victoria and the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia. Samantha expects this will continue to grow.
Engaging exhibits
One of the features of Waste Expo Australia is big pieces of equipment. Attendees will not be able to miss the exhibits from major companies such as Komatsu, Applied Machinery, HSR Southern Cross and Telford Smith Engineering.
“We’re also seeing some great things from Australian companies like Ecocycle, Repurpose It, and TOMRA Collections,” Samantha says. “It really is the ultimate sourcing platform for the latest products and technologies.”
This year’s exhibits are still under wraps, but Samantha is focused on working with the entire waste management industry.
“We are focused on bringing cutting-edge technology from around the world to Waste Expo Australia,” she says. “To do this, we are leveraging our international reach. We work in tandem with Pollutec, which runs the largest waste event in France and attracts exhibitors across Europe.”
That European experience is being viewed positively in Australia with multinational companies coming to Waste Expo Australia to showcase proven technology.
“We’ve already got representation from over 10 countries,” Samantha says.
“We’ve got firms from the Americas, Asia and Europe, which will only grow. It shows just how important the Australian market is to them.”
Panels and workshops
Months out from Waste Expo Australia, Samantha remains tight-lipped about the potential panels for people to attend.
However the expo will maintain its four streams: government; circular economy; commercial, industrial, and construction demolition waste; and waste to energy.
Interactive workshops are also a key part of Waste Expo Australia and Samantha says that these workshops should continue.
“We had developed our partnerships with industry associations and government departments last year,” she says. “That created an enhanced content offering through workshops, roundtable discussions and stakeholder meetings.
“We are already getting requests from some of the same participants as last year. They want to work out how to engage face-to-face, as it’s the key driver for those businesses. It’s a great way to get a group into a room and start having in-depth conversations that can move the needle.”
The future
Samantha sees Waste Expo Australia grow every year. That means it has to evolve to reflect the changing needs of the sector.
“We’re doing this by expanding our content and exhibition,” she says. “I think the sector is poised for some significant advancements over the next few years, which will be reflected in Waste Expo Australia.”
She says both Australian and international suppliers are leading the way in new technology, which will support Waste Expo Australia as a sourcing and learning platform.
For more information, visit: www.wasteexpoaustralia.com.au
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