IFAT 2008, the 15th International Trade Fair for Water, Sewage, Refuse and Recycling, will be held May 5 to 9, 2008, at the New Munich Trade Fair Centre in Munich, Germany.
The international trade fair for the environmental sector will revolve around environmental solutions. It will be oriented to the future of environmental technology, focusing on comprehensive solution approaches.
Event organizers are striving to make IFAT 2008 more international than ever, and to discover new potential in growing markets. This year’s event will have more international exhibitors, more acquisition activities in growing markets and more international cooperation with trade associations and organizations than ever before. IFAT is designed to be innovative, focusing on new product groups; comprehensive, covering the water, sewage, refuse and recycling sectors in their entirety; international, with visitors and exhibitors from around the world; and informative, with a related events program that creates synergy.
Attendees can profit from the global diversity of environmental-technology tasks at IFAT. While demand for high-tech solutions and machinery is high, there is also a growing need for customized technologies and island solutions. Customized technologies are considered the key to success both in threshold and industrialized nations.
New topics this year such as coastal protection/flood control and waste-to-energy concepts take changing climate conditions and the growing lack of resources into account.
A record number of companies participated in IFAT 2005. There were 2,222 exhibitors from 36 countries, 29% from countries other than Germany. A total of 109,000 people from 166 countries attended that year's event.
“Exhibitors and trade associations will showcase the latest product developments, trends and market analyses within the scope of presentations and panel discussions,” said Eugen Egetenmeir, deputy managing director of Messe München GmbH, the organizer of IFAT 2008. “So, the lectures and forums that are held in the midst of the exhibition are the perfect platform for new business contacts.”
The main themes of the related-events program in 2008 include technical and scientific topics that pertain to water, sewage and refuse; sustainability; climate change; solid waste as a source of energy and biogas; disaster management; and region and country specials.
“There are several important issues and topics which will be discussed at IFAT 2008,” Egetenmeir said. “The most important ones are the problems of waste disposal and sewage, higher tides or the need for more robust flood defences. Additionally, the water supply for developing countries as well as for emerging markets will be of high interest.”
Admission tickets can be purchased in advance at IFAT 2008’s website: www.ifat.de. More information on the opportunities available at the event, as well as suggestions for travel arrangements, can also be found at the website.
