ESS Expo, the UK’s largest environmental event, has today released its full agenda for its 2024 show, which is set to welcome a record number of over 12,000 visitors and over 600 exhibiting companies.

Returning to the NEC (National Exhibition Centre), Birmingham, from 11-12 September 2024, the show unites five key industry events – Resource & Waste Management Expo (RWM), Energy, Fuels & Decarbonisation Expo (EFD), Water Resource Management Expo (WRM), Contamination & Land Remediation Expo (CLR), and the Air Pollution Control Expo (APC).

The 2024 edition will follow three core themes to address some of today’s most pressing and pertinent environmental challenges – net-zero, the circular economy, and biodiversity – with various features and events designed to explore innovative solutions and strategies to address each of these challenges.

Carefully curated to inspire, educate, and motivate the professional community, the show will present a line-up of industry leaders, celebrities, government speakers, environmental policymakers, and ambitious starters for hundreds of panel sessions, speaker sessions, and Q&As across the two days. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from more than 350 speakers from DEFRA, the NHS, Winvic, Anglian Water, Sony, Virgin Media O2, Heathrow Airport, Lloyds Banking Group, Department of Business & Trade, Environment Agency, National Grid, Biffa, John F Hunt, National Highways, Strata Homes, Viridor, Yorkshire Water, and many more, who will deliver expertly-led sessions across the show’s expansive 17 stages and theatres.

The stages, committed to providing premier platforms for knowledge sharing, networking, and showcasing the latest technologies and solutions, include;

• Net Zero Summit Theatre
• Environment Networking Hub
• Green Skills & Future Talent Hub
• Circular Economy & Sustainability Stage
• Municipal Stage
• Materials & Markets Stage
• Packaging & EPR Stage
• Start-Up & Innovation Zone
• Live Demonstration Area
• ESS Live Stage
• Contamination & Land Remediation Keynote
• Contamination & Land Remediation Technical Stage
• Water Keynote Stage
• Water Technical Stage
• Energy Keynote Stage
• Energy from Waste & Bioenergy Stage
• Air Pollution & Emission Keynote Stage.

Opening a morning panel discussion on ‘The Future of Environment & Sustainability: 2024’ in the Net Zero Summit Theatre, will be Jennifer Brown, Associate Director, Public Services Advisory, Net Zero at Grant Thornton UK LLP; Bethany Cockshutt, Associate, Business Services at The Carbon Trust; Jonathon Porritt, writer and campaigner on sustainable development; Chani Courtney, Regional Rep of Surfers Against Sewage; and David Donnelly, Committee Member of IOSH.

Another panel, ‘Leaders in Waste’ will follow, featuring Maxine Mahew, COO of Biffa; John Scanlon, CEO of Suez; Neil Grundon, CEO of Grundon; Dr Anna Willetts, Partner of GunnerCooke; and Steve Molyneux, Deputy Director of Waste Regulation at the Environment Agency, will explore the future outlook for the resource sector as we enter a new era of Government.

Exploring the critical role of biodiversity and its potential to transform how we approach environmental conservation and urban development will be the panel discussion, ‘Giving nature a boost: Is Biodiversity Net Gain the key to Sustainable Development?’ led by Adam Bedford, Collaborative Projects Director of Fera Science Ltd.; Julia Baker, Technical Director of Mott MacDonald; Gabriel Smith, Senior Officer – Biodiversity Net Gain of Natural England; Martin Ballard, Head of Environment at Wates Group; and Leigh Broadhurst, Biodiversity Policy Lead at the ESA.

The Green Skills & Future Talent Hub, dedicated to fuelling the talent pipeline for the future of the green industries, will present a number of panels and speaker sessions across the two days. Speakers, Manu Maunganidze from the RACE Report; Emilija Rudinskaite, Climate Education Specialist at Earth Watch; Ray Nash, Fundraising Officer and Andy Harrison, Head of Delivery and Learning at ESS charity partner, Groundwork; Katie Cockburn, Senior Director of Policy Media and Education at CIWM; and Afiya Howe, HR Business Partner at Biffa, will discuss the important discussion of: ‘How Can We Build a More Diverse and Inclusive Environmental Workforce?’ Rudinskaite will then go on to present a session on: ‘Building Green Skills in Young People and the Presence of Role Models’.

At the Circular Economy & Sustainability Stage, dedicated to exploring the principles and practices to create a closed loop environment, Geoff Mackey, UK Country Head for Plastics Europe; Kieren Mayers, Vice President, Environment, Social, & Governance at Sony Interactive Entertainment; Matt Manning, Head of Circularity & Net Zero at BT Group plc; Lauren Rabbitte, Salex Executive at ECS; and Rob McCann, Head of Environment, Climate and Nature for Virgin Media O2, will hold a panel discussion on, ‘How Your Business Can Thrive and Survive in the Circular Future!’

Later, Simon Gandy, Technical Director of SLR Consulting and Julia Baker, Technical Director of Mott Macdonald will present a Q&A session titled, ‘The Evolving Market: How Consultancies Are Translating Sustainability Trends into Action’.

The Municipal Stage, a place for local authorities and service providers to cover waste management, urban planning, environmental policy, amongst other municipal topics will be experts from SLR Consulting, Grant Thornton, WRAP, Veolia, the Welsh Government, and more.

The full schedule of sessions, panels, and Q&As across all stages and hubs has been revealed on the ESS Expo website here.

An addition to the event’s conference offering will be live, in-action demonstrations of the latest material handling and processing machinery from JCB, CRJ services, Doyle Machinery, and Dustquip in the Live Demo Area. Additionally, music entertainment will be provided on the ESS Live Stage and in RWM’s al fresco area, the Inn on the Green.

Complementing the event’s conference programme will be an abundance of networking events, lead with the ESS Connect Party on 11 September which will welcome 400 of the industry’s brightest experts. Tickets to this exclusive event are limited, so attendees are encouraged to book now.

A show floor of all things green

More than 600 exhibitors will join the show across its five events, displaying the latest innovative solutions, designs, technologies, and services in their respective fields.

At RWM, visitors will see leading industry names such as Addex Group, AuraQ, Biffa Waste Services Limited, British Plastics Federation, Egger Timberpak, Firechief, Honeywell, Recycleye, Renault Trucks, and more. Following the news that it has raised $3.25 million in venture funding, Sensorita, the Oslo-based waste-management start-up will be showcasing its sensor technology, while Leafield Environmental, the leading UK manufacturer of premium litter and recycling bins, will showcase how its products continue to support businesses, councils, and institutions improve their waste management solutions. Scott Newell, chairman of the world’s foremost expert in automobile shredders and recycling equipment, Newell Recycling, will present to attendees the company’s shredding process and its evolutionary development.

At WRM, Spinaclean, a trailblazer in the cleaning and maintenance industry, will showcase its latest innovation, FloodVac, a fully mobile dual-pump water extraction system which aims to revolutionise the flood and water extraction industry. Other leading bodies and organisations will join the expo including Brenntag, GreenBlue Urban, Ofwat Innovation Fund, SoluForm, The Woodland Trust, and more.

Joining CLR will be the British Geological Survey, British Society of Soil Science, Envirotreat, Robertson Geo, The Coal Authority, the UK & Ireland Spill Association, amongst others, plus Rain for Rent, a leading provider of temporary liquid handling solutions including pumps, tanks, filtration, and spill containment. Turnkey Instruments Ltd., a leading designer and manufacturer of high-quality industrial and scientific instrumentation, will carry out live demonstrations of its full equipment range, including its new iGASair unit for recording and reporting of multiple gas species, viewed remotely through its AirQWeb cloud server and iVIBEpeli Integrated Noise & Vibration monitor.

Meanwhile, EFD will feature innovators will host ACCIONA, Assentech, Drycake, Greens Power Limited, KEW Technology, Pemo Pumps, and more. Making a presence for the first time at the new APC will be EarthSense, Protea Limited, Soarability, WWF, and more to be announced soon.

Celebrating the industry’s progress

Open to all ambitious leaders, innovators, and changemakers in the sector, the brand-new Environment 100 Recognition Scheme will acknowledge and celebrate the exceptional leadership, forward-thinking, and commitment to ecological preservation and sustainability within the UK. The final selection of the 100 will be judged by an illustrious panel of experts and industry leaders from The Society for the Environment (SocEnv), The Renewable Energy Association (REA), The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT), Groundwork, CIWEM, and Letsrecycle.com, and announced at the highly anticipated ceremony on 11 September (day one) in the Net Zero Summit Theatre.

Meanwhile, the 35 Under 35 Awards celebrates individuals under the age of 35 in waste and recycling, water management, energy, construction, and in roles connected to managing sustainability. The shortlist and top three winners will be announced at the Net Zero Summit Theatre on 12 September (day two).

Aimed at celebrating women working across the UK’s green economy and their achievements, the Women in Resource & Sustainability initiative is another inclusive networking platform taking place at show. Designed to celebrate and connect the contributions of inspiring women in the resource, recycling, and waste management sector, attendees will be able to share their experiences, challenges, and success stories at the Environment Networking Hub on 12 September.

Rob Mowat, Managing Director of ESS Expo, said: “The UK’s green transition and commitments to achieving circularity requires one thing – collaboration. The huge efforts and strides needed to achieve the new government’s Green Prosperity Plan is not something that can be done alone.

We will combine five unique sectors in one, uniting leaders and experts leading the way in delivering a circular economy, reduced net-zero emissions, improved sustainability, and biodiversity conservation. Collectively, they will provide attendees with a 360° view of the industry, with ESS also providing unrivalled knowledge exchange and networking opportunities.”