Speaker Insights

Ahead of the WEX Global Bioeconomy Summit, we asked our speakers to share their perspectives on the opportunities, challenges and innovations shaping the global bioeconomy.

1. Why is now such an important moment for the water and bioeconomy sectors?

A consciousness toward collaboration is occurring now in spaces for water reuse (including direct potable reuse), resource recovery at wastewater treatment facilities, industrial symbiosis and government climate action initiatives. Technology solutions have emerged and some have matured to scaled systems to support these initiatives (i.e. heat/energy recovery, biogas production, reliable potable water treatment)

2. What is the biggest opportunity in wastewater and resource recovery?

On a high level, transition from “waste treatment systems” to meaningful “resource recovery systems”. First level technologies and systems at full scale have been deployed at leading wastewater treatment facilities, and many have proven out to the extent that other wastewater agencies can comfortably take risk to transition to particularly systems of anaerobic digesters with valuable outputs of many types of biosolids, and biogas for several proven energy uses. At our utility that is currently beginning engineering design of a solids resource recovery system, we have found a strong nexus to help meet the city’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.

3. Who are you hoping to connect with at the WEX Global Bioeconomy Summit?

Innovation leaders from Europe and around the world with technologies and systems that are advancing resource recovery. I’m very interested to meet practitioners in industrial symbiosis (or our interested to learn more and pursue). I’m interested in collaborations in the nexus of renewable energy and community.