AIWW 2017: Setting the stage for a circular economy

‘We have a huge problem with water and the circular economy is essentially one of the few possible solutions’ says Tomás Michel, president of the Brussels-based Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (Wsstp) on the eve of the Amsterdam International Water Week (AIWW) 2017. ‘The circular economy cannot be implemented by single actors. The AIWW provides again an opportunity for different stakeholders to come together and showcase and discuss the concept', he adds.

Next to Michel, several other top experts will be present at the AIWW to bring the issue of resource recovery in the water sector a step further.

Circular economy, together with resilient cities, will be a major topic at the Amsterdam International Water Week that will take place from 30 October till 3 November.

President Tomás Michel of Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (Wsstp) will be leading the AIWW-session on Next Tech Ventures and Upscaling on Wednesday 1 November.

New mind set
‘The concept of circular economy definitely includes a need to reuse water, but goes well beyond this’, continues Michel. ‘It demands a complete change of mindset on how we consume, produce, grow food’.

Michel will be leading a session on 'Next Tech Ventures and Upscaling' on Wednesday 1 November. The aim for the workshop is to identify success factors that allow use of a technology to be replicated in different locations, including ensuring the right skills are developed through capacity building.

‘It’s important that, for innovation to happen, there is this environment of collaboration, partnership and capacity building. I think what we can achieve at AIWW with this workshop is precisely to take one more little, but important, step forward in that direction,’ says Michel.

Zero waste nation
Also present at the AIWW, will be Chief executive Peter Joo Hee Ng (on top photo) of PUB Singapore. He will participate in Global Dialogue of the Utilities Leader Forum. Peter Joo Hee Ng will share the latest experiences on large scale water re-use and the recent introduction of sustainable energy at Pub’s major water plants.

He will reflect on Singapore’s wider efforts to achieve a circular economy. ‘We recognise that there will be continued challenges for the future in terms of increasing competition for resources,’ says Peter. ‘We will work towards a Zero Waste Nation by reducing our consumption, as well as reusing and recycling all materials to give them a second lease of life,’ he adds, pointing also to plans to create ‘Living Labs’ to test-bed ideas.

Professor Willy Verstraete will deliver a key note at the workshop Water Cycle Recovery and Reuse Implementation on Wednesday 1 November.

New steps ahead
Belgian top expert on anaerobic waste treatment, professor Willy Verstraete will deliver a key note at the workshop 'Water Cycle Recovery and Reuse Implementation' on Wednesday 1 November.

Verstraete emphasises the importance for the global water community to take new steps ahead. Politicians and public are ready for a cyclic economy, he is convinced.

‘Climate change will result in a more variable supply of water and this is a key issue in the context of the water cycle. This must be our first focus', says Verstrate on the occasion of the AIWW.

Visitors of the Aquatech trade fair can walk through a 'sewer tube' to see many different products that can already be recovered from municipal waste water.

Exhibition of new technologies
The AIWW conference will coincide with the water technology trade fair Aquatech Amsterdam where the latest technology on water resource recovery will be shown.

At the entrance of the trade fair, in the Europe Foyer, there will be a special circular economy expo in a walk-through ‘sewer’ tube. It will show the latest’s development in the recovery of water, energy and materials from municipal waste water.

Another highlight on the theme of circular economy is the CirTec-technology (in hall 7, 07.450) to recover toilet paper from waste water and process it into cellulose. In the Netherlands the first such recovered cellulose has been used in asphalt for a bike lane.

Read also on this website
● Amsterdam International Water Week 2017: Count down is on, two weeks to go
● AIWW Conference: Real cases and workshops on how to replumb cities, 29 June 2017
● Amsterdam International Water Week 2015: Look back on an impelling Amsterdam International Water Week, 12 November 2015

More information
Amsterdam International Water Week 2017
www.internationalwaterweek.com