Ifat sets the bar as it celebrates 50 years

As trade show Ifat celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, the ongoing demand for exhibition space has seen the 2016 version of the water, sewage, waste and raw materials management trade fair fully booked despite taking up all 16 halls of the Messe München Internationale Congress Center, in Germany.

More than 135 000 visitors were expected to attend the 230 000 m² Ifat exhibition, from May 30 to June 3, to learn about the latest developments surrounding environmental technologies.

Half of the exhibition space filled by over 3 000 exhibitors would be dedicated to water and sewage-related industries, while the remaining 115 000 m² would be dominated by recycling and municipal technologies.

Ifat, held every two years, attracted some 3 081 exhibitors from 59 countries and 135 288 visitors from 168 countries in 2014.

“The ongoing high level of demand from companies wishing to exhibit at Ifat 2016 is impressive confirmation of the status of the sector’s number one global innovations platform and trade fair for environmental technology,” said trade-show company Messe München MD Stefan Rummel.

Along with live demonstrations, exhibiting companies planned to showcase their latest technologies and propose solutions to the challenges faced in the industry.

Experts and policymakers were expected to exchange ideas and knowledge, with international networking opening up new perspectives and potential solutions for the future.

With water a scarce commodity requiring cost effective and efficient management, the water and sewage platforms of the trade show would delve into new innovations in the areas of water extraction and use; sewage and treatment; water distribution and sewers; coastal protection, flood and water bodies controls; measuring, control and laboratory technology; general services; and science, research and technology transfer.

The recycling and municipal technologies platforms at the show aimed to address the need for new methods and waste technologies in the environmental sector to economically tap into the reusable materials and energy contained within trash.

To this end, developments in sectors such as waste management and recycling; energy generation from waste materials; street cleaning, maintenance and winter road services; decontamination of old sites and soil treatment; flue-gas scrubbing and air extraction and air pollution control; and noise reduction and sound insulation would also be showcased.

Ifat started as the 18 000 m² International Trade Fair for Sewage Technology in 1966 with 147 exhibitors from nine countries and 7 650 visitors from 40 countries.