European FOG conference
Sustainable water management, wastewater treatment, sewage, grease traps…if these are the words that typically pique your interest, then I have the conference for you. On the 6th of March, we are hosting the first ever European FOG Summit in Amsterdam…and it’s safe to say we’re just a little bit excited.
We’re bringing the best and brightest minds from around the world to discuss the current state of FOG and what the future might hold.
Innovation through collaboration
Our summit is going to highlight these new ways of thinking about FOG over the course of one action-packed day. We will cover the entire life cycle of FOG: from the kitchen to the recycling plant and everything in between. The day will be a mix of theory-based discussion with plenty of use cases for attendees to get their teeth into. Each will focus on elements related to behavioral management, collaboration along with a look at new technologies which are being applied throughout the FOG lifecycle – and we won’t just be talking about our own innovative FOG solution 😉
A global view
Our speakers have been recruited from around the world to give a truly global view of FOG. Not only that but they each represent different stakeholders throughout the FOG lifecycle such as FOG managers, industry consultants, public water and sewage industry, the hospitality industry, and academia among others.
Some of the topics we will be covering include
- The growing threat of FOG (fat, oil, grease): And how much food service industry contributes to this
- A Global comparison: a panel debate between water companies and cities from 6 different countries
- Resource recovery: smart initiatives for more circular cities
Amsterdam
We choose to host the conference in Amsterdam for a few reasons, outside of the beautiful architecture and endless canals of course. We opened our Amsterdam office just over a year ago and have been delighted with the progress we have been able to make both in terms of developing partnerships with local institutions like Waternet but also with our engagement of local food service entrepreneurs.
This past summer we launched our Vetstrijder campaign which engaged these restaurant owners to find out how much they knew about sustainable FOG management along with measuring grease trap adoption throughout Amsterdam. We quickly learned that only 50% of the food service establishments surveyed had a grease trap installed while the other half did not know what it was or if they did they were unaware of how important it was to install one in terms of protecting the community.
Our findings showcased how important it is for regulators to understand the size and causes of the problems underground, while also being adept at effectively communicating with food service establishments to instigate long-term behavioral change.
One of the highlights of our conference will be a global panel with experts from 6 countries discussing this very issue along with comparing each countries water and sewage background and history, success stories, policy-making and their vision to increase sustainability for their communities.
We are grateful to our Dutch partners Waternet Water Company, who will be hosting us for the day and the European Commission for helping to fund our initiatives throughout Europe.
