IFAT Munich 2022 with a strong new start for climate protection
The world's leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management was held in Munich from May 30 to June 3, 2022. 2,984 exhibitors and around 119,000 visitors confirmed the trade fair as the most important platform for environmental technologies.
"A huge trade fair, concentrated knowledge transfer, networking - IFAT Munich 2022 was pure inspiration and is a driver of the sustainable transformation of industries and of climate-resilient communities," says Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München. "With 2,984 exhibitors from 59 countries and around 119,000 visitors from 155 countries, the show is approaching pre-Corona levels, reflecting the great potential of environmental technologies and confirming its position as the world's leading platform for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management." Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff, Chairman of the IFAT Munich Advisory Board, added: "The high level of international participation at the show in these challenging times is impressive. It's great to see IFAT back so strongly. After all, it is a very important, sustainable driver for the circular economy and the environmental industry."
Whether plastic or water - focus on closed cycles
More space than ever was devoted to the circular economy at the trade show. Germany's Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke stated at the opening: "A functioning circular economy saves primary resources, reduces dependencies and makes a significant contribution to climate and species protection. I want my policy to help strengthen the circular economy at all stages of its cycle and make environmental protection an interesting business model."
Four special areas alone were devoted to the circular economy, for example in plastics and building materials. In the case of water, too, everything revolved around sustainable use and closed cycles, for example in industrial production - and in cities, which have to prepare themselves for extreme drought and heavy rainfall with intelligent water management. The trade show showcased the technologies for this, and in the lecture program more than 300 experts shared their knowledge and there were numerous live demonstrations and guided solution tours.
The most important key figures for the trade fair
IFAT Munich occupied all 18 halls and a large part of the outdoor exhibition area at Messe München, totaling 260,000 square meters. 2,984 exhibitors traveled from 59 countries and regions (2018: 3,305/58) and some 119,000 visitors from 155 countries and regions (2018: 142,472/162). Half of the exhibitors and visitors came from abroad. Compared to the previous event, the strong participation from China and Russia was notably absent. A start-up area gathered 49 start-ups from 16 nations. 15 international joint stands from Europe as well as Japan, Canada, South Korea and the USA exhibited. High-ranking representatives from politics traveled to the event, including from Egypt, Belgium and Malaysia, as well as the environment ministers of Brazil and Singapore and numerous international delegations.
Valuable platform for the environmental industry
"IFAT has not lost its appeal for the environmental service sector and will continue to maintain its importance as the world's leading trade fair in the future," explains Max Köttgen, CEO of Remondis, a leading company for recycling, water management, and municipal and industrial services. "I am very impressed by the size of the show, the number of visitors and the unique expert platform, and I am pleased that we were able to hold numerous relevant discussions with customers and partners," adds Anja Eimer, head of the global water business at Siemens. The trade fair is an "excellent platform to present our products and solutions to the public" (Georg Huber, Chairman of the Board, HUBER), it is the "most important international trade fair to reflect industry trends based on our sustainable product and service innovations" (Ottmar Steinebrunner, Managing Director Sales & Service Europe and Americas, Bucher Municipal), it offers as the "world's leading trade fair for the municipal sector an ideal platform to experience our versatile industry solutions" (Dr. Ralf Forcher, Head of Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks).
Source and further information: www.ifat.de
