Hitting the jackpot

Taking a trip to Las Vegas usually means trying to beat the odds, but attendees of WasteExpo 2015 won’t be taking a gamble on the convention and expo. After decades of successful events, attendees of WasteExpo, June 1-4, 2015, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, can bet that hundreds of exhibitors, several educational tracks and thousands of attendees will be on hand for the largest convention of waste and recycling professionals in North America.

While the show is considered North America’s largest solid waste and recycling trade show serving the private and public sectors with 560 exhibiting companies and 11,000 total participants, the conference finds a way to meet the specific educational needs of attendees by offering several programming tracks that cover various waste and recycling topics, including:

• recycling/resource recovery;
• safety;
• leadership/business development/finance;
• regulatory;
• fleet and equipment technology;
• technological innovations in the waste and recycling industry;
• landfill technologies/best practices;
• hauling; and
• composting and organics recycling.
  
   

Expanded scope

According to its organizers, Waste 360, New York, and the National Waste & Recycling Association (NW&RA), Washington, WasteExpo expanded its opportunities in recent years with composting/organics tracks, super sessions, a show floor presentation theater and an investor summit. WasteExpo organizers say even more is to come in 2015.

As part of WasteExpo, Waste360 and Stifel Financial Corp., St. Louis, collaborate to host the third annual WasteExpo Investor Summit, which they describe as the only dedicated gathering of corporate executives and institutional investors in the waste and recycling industry.

The summit, which Michael Hoffman, managing director of Stifel, leads, kicks off WasteExpo Monday, June 1, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The WasteExpo Investor Summit brings together corporate executives in the waste and recycling industry, technology companies and institutional investors.

Following a full day of educational sessions, the Chateau Nightclub and Garden hosts a welcome reception from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. that provides attendees a chance to mingle.

Hoffman also moderates the keynote session, “The Heavy Hitters Panel,” Wednesday, June 3, from 9 to 10 a.m. The panel of CEOs from the leading waste management firms in North America includes David Steiner of Waste Management, Houston; Joe Quarin of Progressive Waste Solutions, Toronto; Ron Mittlestaedt of Waste Connections, The Woodlands, Texas; and Richard Burke of Advanced Disposal, Ponte Vedra, Florida.These CEOs will share their perspectives on the latest trends, technologies and challenges concerning recycling and disposal of solid, industrial and exploration and production (E&P) energy waste.
 

Organic growth

For the third consecutive year, WasteExpo offers programming on composting and organics. According to the WasteExpo website, www.wasteexpo.com, the Composting and Organics Recycling tracks “dive into content on organics management, including composting, anaerobic digestion, organics recycling, renewable energy from organics, bioplastics, compostable products and more.” Nineteen sessions are offered as part of the Composting and Organics Recycling tracks.

The website adds, “Organics recovery and processing is a growing industry that provides major opportunities to increase overall recovery rates while producing high-quality and environmentally beneficial compost and renewable energy products. Opportunities for growth are available to all sectors of the waste, recycling and organics industry.”

See a schedule of pertinent programming for the recycling industry in the table, “Navigating the Tracks,” below.
 

In the hall

The WasteExpo exhibit hall provides an opportunity for attendees to meet with more than 560 exhibitors representing more than 90 equipment categories, including balers, containers, loaders, material handling equipment, recycling systems and refuse truck bodies and chassis. Many of these companies display their equipment during the event, allowing attendees a firsthand look at solutions for their recycling operations.

Attendees can visit Recycling Today Media Group’s booth, No. 2291, to meet with the staff and for complementary magazines.

Exhibit hall hours are Tuesday, June 2, and Wednesday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The offerings of WasteExpo coupled with a Las Vegas backdrop are sure to provide a winning combination for attendees.

More information about WasteExpo is available at www.wasteexpo.com.

The author is a managing editor for the Recycling Today Media Group and can be reached at ksmith@gie.net.