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POLLUTEC
has grown into the largest European trade show for industry
related to the environment. Attendance was up 3.4% this year
(close to 60,000 visitors), and over 2,000 companies, including
many small industrial firms, came as exhibitors, a proof of
expansion in this sector. Overall, this sector registered
an average growth of 7.8% in 2000 in France, taking into account
materials recovery and recycling activities that increased
significantly. Water treatment returned to an annual growth
rate of 4.8% for the first time in ten years, and waste disposal
has started to take off again as regulatory deadlines come
closer and separate collection is widely adopted. Demand for
measurement devices and equipment to reduce air pollution
is strongly growing. A new round of progression is perceptible
in engineering and consulting services : these advances are
still timid, but show a movement towards consolidation.
POLLUTEC 2000 confirms the trend that has increasingly made
this show into the prime rendezvous for those interested in
innovation. At the Research-Industry space hosted by ADEME
for the sixth year in a row, research laboratories could present
their work pertaining to energy, renewable sources of energy
and the environment to industrialists. The 8th annual Clean
and Resource-Efficient Technologies Trophy Awards sponsored
by ADEME and the “Industries et Techniques” magazine
were given to five companies. Among the winners were two SME,
one recognised for a stripping process using wheat starch,
the other for presaturated solvent towelettes to reduce VOC
emissions.
POLLUTEC is also an increasingly international event, with
this year 631 foreign exhibitors spanning 33 nationalities
and a great many foreign visitors in attendance, many of them
invited to POLLUTEC as part of economic cooperation relations
piloted by the Foreign Affairs ministry's economic expansion
units, the CFME-ACTIM export support bureau, and ADEME. For
the first time, the ADEME International club had its own booth
showcasing the activities of several of its members. Some
fourty foreign delegations were welcomed and given information
to guide them to the French products or services best suited
to their needs. A programme has been designed to provide support
for the activities of the 26 trade attachés from economic
expansion units abroad, so that they can effectively promote
French products and services.
Lastly, the importance of environmental communication left
its mark on this show, as was visible in the Internet-Environment
demonstration space and through numerous CD-ROMs and websites
created by actors of the French environmental industry.
Jean-Claude
Oppeneau
Deputy
Director of the International Affairs Division
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