Wastes brought together hundreds of people to debate the future of Waste Management and Sustainability
The International Wastes Conference, organized biennially by the CVR – which for this edition joined the University of Coimbra – brought together more than two hundred people from all over the world, for a joint reflection on the sectors of Waste Management, Recycling and Sustainability.
Organized at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, between the 6th and 8th of September, the Conference brought together experts from academia and industry, who for three days demonstrated, shared and debated solutions for a more sustainable future.
With 232 participants, from 11 European, African and American countries, the Congress had plenary sessions, parallel sessions, poster sessions and industry sessions, and also included a social and cultural events in the program.
Raúl Fangueiro, from the University of Minho, Elza Bontempi, from the University of Brescia, Heather Wray, from TNO, and Hermano Rodrigues, from EY-Parthenon, were the invited speakers for the plenary sessions.
During the three days of the event, the 120 oral presentations of the parallel sessions and the 64 posters on display made it possible to present and publicize the works of the authors who submitted Full Papers and Short Papers, included in the book published by CRC Press – Taylor & Francis Group (indexed to Scopus and Web of Science – ISI) and in the Conference Book of Proceedings, respectively.
In this edition, there was distinction for the best Conference Posters. “Mullite Based Ceramics as a Potential Approach for the Valorization of Petrochemical Catalysts Waste”, by Aurora López-Delgado, from the Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Sciences, and “Valorization of Poultry Feather Wastes: Keratin Recovery Using Ionic Liquids”, by Helena Passos, from the University of Aveiro, were the Posters chosen by the Committee responsible for the evaluation.
The sixth edition of Wastes also featured five industry sessions, free to attend, organized by the School of Engineering of the University of Minho, Fibrenamics, 3drivers, SmartWaste Portugal and CVR.
The event was attended, in the Opening Ceremony, by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Pires, the Mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, the Vice-Rector of the University of Coimbra, João Ramalho, the Vice-Director of the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, Paula Veríssimo, and Cândida Vilarinho, Chair of Wastes 2023.
Ana Cristina Carrola, from the Portuguese Environment Agency, Ana Sutcliffe, from ANI, Isabel Lança, from Ordem dos Engenheiros, Margarida Quina, Co-Chair of Wastes 2023, Luís Filipe, from CCDRC, and Cândida Vilarinho, Chair of the next edition of the Wastes Conference, formed the panel for the event's Closing Ceremony.
Social program
In addition to technical and scientific sessions, the event included social and cultural moments, free of charge for all participants.
The first day of the Conference ended with a reception and guided tour of the Machado de Castro National Museum, one of the most important Portuguese museums. Created in 1911 and inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2019, the Museum, whose name pays homage to the sculptor from Coimbra Joaquim Machado de Castro, has a unique heritage dimension.
The Conference dinner was planned for the evening of the 7th, which took place at Quinta das Lágrimas, an 18th century palace surrounded by 12 hectares of historic gardens. Before dinner, the Congressmen watched a performance by the "Fado Group "Capas ao Luar", from Coimbra.
Wastes 2025
At the Closing Ceremony of Wastes 2023, the location that will host the next edition was revealed. Cândida Vilarinho, Chair of Wastes, announced Funchal, Madeira, as the destination for the seventh edition of Wastes, which will take place in September 2025.