11 September 2020, 14:41
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Strong international participation in the digital event
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Key topics: circular economy, artificial intelligence, market insights
Digital interaction on many levels
Yogurt cups, African insights, and artificial intelligence
Key topic was how to achieve a circular economy—just as in the Solution Tour “From a yogurt cup to a new recycled product.” The experts identified three top measures: making products more recyclable, raising awareness among end-users for better pre-sorting, and setting quotas by (EU) policy makers so that more recycled material can be incorporated into new plastic products. “Plastics are necessary for our lives. The only question is how we deal with them,” said Michael Perl from SeSoTec GmbH.
There were also numerous insights into international markets, including Africa: “Africa is not suffering from water shortages,” said Sylvain Usher, Managing Director of the African Water Association (AfWA). “The problem is that the water does not reach the consumer because of many leaks or illegal discharges. The fight against water losses is therefore one of the central concerns of African water management.”
Also interesting were the statements about artificial intelligence in the environmental sector: “Artificial intelligence in the greentech sector has the most direct and strongest influence on the management of climate change and the circular economy,” said Dr. Philipp Gerbert, Director at appliedAI, Germany's leading initiative for artificial intelligence (AI). However, AI must first eliminate its own CO2 footprint through emissions from the power consumption of the data centers. Prof. Dr. Ralf Boris Wehrspohn, Executive Board Member of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, pointed out the many potential applications in the water industry, be it online monitoring of drinking water, more economical and resilient wastewater treatment plants or sustainable water management in cities.
The contents from the conference will soon be available on the IFAT website.
Source: Messe München GmbH