The Eco-Innovation Event of the Year

With only a few months to go until it opens, things are already looking good for Pollutec Horizons (France), the international show-case for cutting edge environment and sustainable development solutions. This year it is the only general event to be staged in Europe and it serves an ever more diverse array of professionals to whom these fields matter. The forthcoming show will tackle the full range of topics: waste management, water treatment, renewables, energy efficiency, air quality, risk prevention, biodiversity, corporate social responsibility and ethical buying — with the emphasis being on research and innovation. As well as this sector-based approach, Pollutec Horizons 2013 will be highlighting several cross sector themes such as smart city management, through its focus on the sustainable city, efforts to improve factory performance, through the focus on sustainable industry, and, for the first time, sustainable development in healthcare establishments as part of the focus on hospital and sustainable development. It will also be looking at the environmental approach of other sectors of the economy such as commerce and distribution or the food industry. Building on its international development, this year Pollutec Horizons welcomes South Korea as its country of the year and highlights best environmental practice in Scandinavia.  

The forum for innovative eco-technologies

As always, research and innovation lie at the heart of Pollutec Horizons and they are to be found at every level of the show from the stands of the independent exhibitors and the joint venture pavilions — where over 150 launches and announcements are expected — to the conference forums and the LeCleantech business meetings, which this year will be focusing on energy efficiency. They will have an even greater presence in the Future Techniques Forum, the Ecotech Village and the Space Village, which this year will also feature drones for civilian use. Four of the five sets of awards being presented this year are also dedicated to research and innovation, whether it be in the form of public research (Innovative Techniques for the Environment Awards), products and services that have already been launched (Business Awards for the Environment), international success (Eco-Enterprise Export Awards) or promising start-ups (Young Company Eco-Innovation Awards).

The winners of the 4th Cler-Obscur competition for short films on the subject of sustainable energy will be chosen by Internet voting.

A show case for new city management systems

Once again, the sustainable city is a major theme for the show. Working in partnership with the Advancity cluster, Ubifrance, and the AMGVF, Les Eco Maires and ASTEE associations, as well as France Cleantech, EDF and the specialist information site Cleantech Republic, which will host the dedicated web TV service, Pollutec Horizons will concentrate on the latest advances in support of ‘better city living’. Highlights of the programme include: French show cases, technological synergy generated through the smart management of urban utilities (water, energy, waste), preserving nature in the city (environmental engineering, biodiversity), transport and logistics. Visits to model sites suitable for replication elsewhere will also be on offer.

Comprehensive solutions for professionals of all descriptions

The show is also featuring the development of sustainable industry in partnership with the FFC (the French chemical sciences federation) and others. It will present a selection of innovative solutions that could contribute to the essential transformation of our production models, especially in the fields of process performance optimisation, energy efficiency, lower consumption of materials and eco-socio-design.

This year, the show’s organisers have also decided to launch a focus on Hospital and Sustainable Development. This will concentrate on the environmental management of healthcare establishments, the impact of hospital buildings on the environment and the well being at work of their staff. This new initiative is being launched in partnership with several French organisations such as CD2S, H360, the IHF, Inéris, the SFSE and Uniclima. It will also be covering the environment in the commerce & distribution sector in conjunction with Perifem and the environment in the food industry together with Coop de France.

300 lectures and talks

Always a pathfinder, Pollutec Horizons decodes what the future holds through a series of themed spaces:

Ÿ Eleven villages organised by experts in the sector in question: Biogas (Biogaz Vallée, Club Biogaz ATEE); Environmental engineering / Biodiversity (Ministry of the Environment); Hospital and Sustainable Development (Cd2s, H360, IHF, Inéris, SFSE, Uniclima); Ecotech (network of cleantech competitiveness clusters); Recycling (Federec); Sites and Soils (UPDS), Corporate social responsibility (CDAF; DEDH; ObsAR, Pas@Pas); Space Village (CNES, CETE Sud Ouest, IRSTEA); Environment, Commerce & Distribution (Perifem).

Ÿ Nine conference forums: Sustainable City; Sustainable Industry; Hospital and Sustainable Development; Future techniques; Energy; Air quality; Risks and environmental management; Corporate social responsibility / Buy&Care; Solutions forum (Water & Waste).

NB: Building on its success at Pollutec Lyons 2012, the Espace Emploi et Formation [recruitment and training space] will be returning this year. It is organized in partnership with AFITE (the French association of environment engineers and technicians), APEC (executive employment association) and Envirojob, a specialist web site.

An increasingly international event

Today, 30% of Pollutec Horizons’ exhibitors and over 5,000 of its visitors are drawn from all parts of the world. For the 2013 show it is pursuing this process of international development by choosing South Korea as its country of the year, by welcoming Scandinavian representatives and through the international Green Business Meetings.

South Korea is one of the Asian countries most committed to green growth and has drawn up a particularly ambitious national strategy that extends up to 2050 (cf. water management, restoration of water courses, green energy, ICT and environmentally friendly public transport). Many of the country’s stakeholders — representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, cities and industries — will be presenting actual applications of this strategy alongside the Korea Environmental & Technology Institute (KEITI) and the Korea Environmental Preservation Association (KEPA). The show will also offer an opportunity for meetings and discussions with key Scandinavian players. For example, Swedish professionals will present their national cleantech strategy as well as model Swedish sustainable urban development initiatives, and will address bio-energy questions. Other participants are expected from Denmark, Finland and Norway. Pollutec Horizons will also be hosting the third set of Green Business Meetings. These technology and commercial meetings are organised by Enterprise Europe Network together with the Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2011, this event hosted over 500 qualified meetings between 200 companies from 23 different countries. Finally, the show is also looking forward to pavilions being booked and delegations visiting from all over the world. As of mid June, Bavarian, Belgian, Canadian and Japanese pavilions had already been confirmed.