SUM 2018, 4th Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy

Following the great success of the third edition held in 2016, which saw the participation of almost 300 delegates from a wide variety of countries, SUM 2018 / 4th Symposium on Urban Mining and Circular Economy will be held in the prestigious Congress Centre Papa Giovanni XXIII of Bergamo, in May 2018.

To achieve a virtuous application and optimization of current practice, urban mining and circular economy are dependent on the appropriate combination of three worlds (TRIANGLE concept): research and technology (private and public) / administration, economy and industry / policy and regulation. This combination is equally important in other fields of waste management, although is of paramount relevance for a Circular Economy. SUM 2018 will focus on all relevant and innovative aspects relating to these three worlds.

The Symposium will last three days and will include oral sessions, a poster session and a technical tour. The following topics, among others, will be extensively discussed: waste avoidance, sources and characterization of resources in urban areas, technologies for the extraction of materials, techniques of waste segregation, separate collection, takeback programs, recirculation pathways and markets, recovery of abandoned urban areas, carbon and water footprint of material recycling, economic and legal aspects, urban mining and circular economy concepts in developing countries.

Advantageous conditions will be offered to companies wishing to display their practical experience and innovative technologies. Meeting opportunities will also be created to foster cooperation between those involved in industrial production and material recycling.

In particular, thanks to the collaboration with the Tsinghua University in Beijing, which from this year has been added as one of the main promoters of the Conference, a meeting China meets Italy will be organised during the works of the symposium to examine the needs of and opportunities afforded by the Chinese market in the field of urban requalification and sustainable waste management, thus facilitating the access of Italian companies onto the Asian market. The collaboration with Tsinghua University will subsequently peak in 2019 with the organisation in May of the first SUM EAST Conference in Suzhou, China.