It is a great privilege to host this Conference in Rome next May 2018. This event is part of the IWA Specialist Group on Sludge Management (SGSM) conference series, conceived as an international forum discussing state-of-art, practical applications and problems around sewage sludge.
Rome is a very ancient city where many sanitation problems were solved since more than 2500 years. Some sewerage systems, as the Cloaca Maxima, are still in operation. Romans were also capable hydraulic engineers and took the spring water in the ancient city using famous aqueducts, part of them, as the Virgin Aqueduct, still visible in the underground of Rome.
Romans, are therefore very proud of their origins and wish to show to an international panel of scientists and water managers some interesting installations together with their warm hospitality.
Sewage sludge management problems are common all over the world and best solutions, according to affordable costs, have to be suited to specific territorial contexts. Europe is now world promoter for the transition from the linear to the circular economy. Six new directives are about to be approved by the European Parliament and this will drive Member States to the adoption of new strategies and politics to maximize waste recycling. But the question is: it is possible to adopt this policy also in sludge management? One of the objectives of this Conference is to give answer to similar questions. Ing. Giuseppe Mininni