- "The cremation: Making the Circular Economy a Reality" [Waste to Energy: The Conference of the European Incineration Plant Board (CEWEP) will be held in Bilbao from 19 to 21 September. The event, organized by the Zabalgarbi incinerator, will open at the Guggenheim Museum for a dinner, which will take place at the Euskalduna Palace and culminate in another dinner at the Loiu Old Restaurant.
The CEWEP association of incineration plants brings together the owners of 400 incinerators from 22 countries. One of its partners is the AEVERSU (Spanish State Incinerators Association), of which Zabalgarbi is also a member. Xabier Garmendia Martínez, who has organized the waste plans of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, the incineration plants of Zabalgarbi and Zubieta and the plans to transform three cement factories in two territories into waste incinerators, plays a major role in the history of AEVERSU.
CEWEP, the European incinerator employers' association that euphemistically calls the Waste Incineration "Waste to Energy, W2E", held its 8th meeting in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in 2016 and announced that it will hold its 2018 congress in Zabalgarbi, Bilbao. In his press release, he said that CEWEP had selected Zabalgarbi because it is said to be “a reference plant within Europe”.
As you can read in the program of the conference in Bilbao, among others, the following topics will be addressed:
- Implementation of the Circular Economy (Will we achieve the objectives?)
- Incineration and renewable energy
- Innovations in the incineration sector: capture and use of carbon
- Recovery of the metals carried by the squire and the ashes
- People's perception of cremation
To attend the program, they want to give great importance to the promotion and communication of incineration in the congress of Bilbao and will bring to talk in the section "Perception of Waste-to-Energy and Lessons to Learn" professionals specialized in public relations, participatory processes, images, among others.
During the opening dinner, on 19 September, at the Guggenhem Museum, the Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, will welcome the congressmen and also announce the first conferences and the presence of representatives of the Government of Spain as the Basque Government. The core of the conference will take place on the 20th and this will also be closed with another dinner, at the famous Old Loiu restaurant.
The morning of September 21 will be dedicated by the congressmen to visit the Zabalgarbi incinerator.
Who will come to Bilbao? The organizers expect: "People who make decisions on the subject at national level, as in Europe, local authorities, Incinerator Plant Managers, Spanish and European associations, Incinerator technology suppliers, waste management companies, scientists, academics and even shareholders. Elected representatives of Europe and its institutions, environmental protection agencies..."
Finally, since it is important to reconcile work and family well, so that the couples of the congressmen do not get bored during the 20 September conference, the organizers of husbands, wives, couples or lovers in any case organize a pleasant morning until the lunchtime: "Walking City Tour, including Pintxo (local tapas) tasting in a local restaurant". Who said that cremation is bad for health?
