Leading environmentalist Jonathon Porritt has predicted that RWM in partnership with CIWM, the waste and resource efficiency industry's flagship event, will "grow and grow" following this year's success, which saw visitor numbers up 38%*.
Jonathon, who talked about the potential of a sustainable world by 2050 in his keynote address at the exhibition, said in his post-show blog: "The whole place positively bristled with new technologies, innovative ideas and companies, and a sense of dynamism and forward-looking energy that I found incredibly uplifting." Read the full blog at http://www.jonathonporritt.com/blog/what-waste.
Following the successful merger in late 2010 between the RWM and Futuresource exhibitions, RWM in partnership with CIWM 2011 was the largest ever UK exhibition for the waste industry, with more exhibitors and visitors than ever before.
Show director Gerry Sherwood said: "This year's show featured over 650 exhibitors and more than 100 speakers in 72 seminar sessions. Our aim was to provide the right environment for business, knowledge sharing and networking and we were very pleased to see over 13,000 visitors across the three days. Representing a 38% increase on 2010*, this clearly shows that the waste management and resource efficiency sector is buoyant and expanding."
Illustrating this, the visitor list featured big corporate names including Allianz, Balfour Beatty, Coca-Cola Enterprises, ExxonMobil, Ford Motor Company, Lafarge, Mars Drinks, Mercedes-Benz, Pfizer, PepsiCo, Pirelli, Shell, Skanska, Tarmac, Tesco, United Utilities, Walkers Snack Foods, Wincanton and Zero Waste Scotland - as well as a strong public sector turnout including Birmingham City Council, Greater London Authority, Westminster City Council, and Zero Waste Scotland. In addition, 30% of the total visitors were employed at chief executive, chief operating officer, managing director, or other senior management levels*.
This year's exhibition also attracted more international visitors than ever before, with around 10% coming from overseas. Over 70 countries were represented including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, South Korea, the Netherlands, UAE and the USA.
CIWM chief executive Steve Lee added: "These figures are extremely encouraging and tell us that the merger was the right move for our sector. Support from industry leaders and environmentalists like Jonathon Porritt can only help the industry and the show to grow over the coming years."
Exhibitor Chris Oldfield, director of Riverside Waste Machinery: "RWM is a must attend event. This year the standard of exhibitors has improved. The merger was absolutely the right decision to make."
Visitor Mason Wood, contracts manager at MGM Industrial ltd said: "Excellent show, a great range of companies under one roof. It's great to have RWM and CIWM together."
Civil engineering firm A H Nicholls and sons director Nigel Nicholls added: "Very interesting, lots of innovation and equipment. Good seminars."
Show organisers are now planning for next year's event with stand sales already well underway for the return to the NEC Birmingham on 11-13 September 2012.