THE ISWA WORLD CONGRESS 2026

2 billion tonnes every year and rising*
Waste or resource?

Opportunities to protect and enhance health, environments and economies.

* Global waste generation per annum.
Source UNEP Global Waste Management Outlook Report 2024)

Programme

View the plenary, curated and technical sessions via the interactive programme overview below. Use the date and location filters to see what content focuses and sessions are taking place over the different programme streams.  

View poster zone programme

Thank you to the Congress Session Supporters: 

Anaerobic Digestion supported by Mott MacDonald

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) supported by Beyondly, Landbell Group/ European Recycling Platform (ERP) & Valpak 

Circular Economy supported by IFAT

Key themes

  • Human Rights: every individual should be free from any harmful effects of waste
  • Political Commitment: ensuring continuous improvement in waste management service provision and recognising its societal importance
  • Waste Planning: designing and delivering viable solutions for national and local contexts
  • The economics of waste and resource management: essential investment to realise wider socio-economic benefits
  • Circular Economy: prioritising a transition to more circular economies by 2050
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Site Visits

Step inside the facilities keeping the UK’s resources and waste moving.

Join us for a day beyond the Congress venue, exploring the infrastructure that serves one of the world’s largest cities.
As host of the first ISWA World Congress in the UK for 30 years, we have worked with local authorities and operators across London and beyond to open their sites to delegates, so you can see their operations in action and put your questions to the people who run them.

Choose from one of five exclusive site visits below, available as an add-on to your Congress ticket. Spaces are limited, and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

 

Explore site visits

Thank you

The 2026 ISWA World Congress programme has been shaped with the invaluable support of our technical abstract reviewers, who generously volunteered their time and expertise to review more than 400 submissions.

We are incredibly grateful for their contribution and commitment, which has helped us develop a programme that reflects the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing our sector.

Our thanks go to: Priscilla Pareuil, Marco Ricci, Rene Rosendal, Valeria Branca, Jane Gilbert, Essam Al Sharji, Haniyeh Jalalipour, Joachim Quoden, Kartik Kapoor, Anja Schwetje, Peter Simoes, Georgina Nitzsche, Edward Krisiunas, Emma Beal, Anne Woolridge, Chris Jonas, Susan Evans, Wayne Hubbard, Chris Sherrington, Debbie Nesbitt, Jeff Cooper, Jacob Hayler, Richard Hudson, Marcus Gover, Trang Dang, John Twitchen, Deji Fawole, Zoë Lenkiewicz, Tim Walker, Amani Maalouf, Basem Abusneineh, Noel Howell, Ian Dudding, Tina Benfield, Judith Harper, Claudia Manca, Sarahjane Widdowson, Karl Williams, Enda Kiernan, Adam Read, Claire Shrewsbury, Margaret Bates, Dan Cooke, Purva Tavri, David Daw, Zoe Goodman.