ABOUT
Fatbergs are enormous solid masses fat, oil and grease (FOG), along with many other products like wet wipes that congeal together. FOG is a by-product of food production, and is estimated to be the root cause of 50-75% of all in-line sewer blockages.
As Fatbergs form and grow, wastewater begins to move more slowly through the sewer. Eventually, the Fatberg stops moving all together and starts to back up.
As sewer networks come under increasing pressure from growing populations and the number of food service establishments continues to grow, new ways of managing FOG must be developed to safeguard the long-term sustainability of our urban communities.
The goal of the 2020 European FOG Summit was to bring together FOG innovators and European wastewater professionals for two immersive days of learning and collaboration centered on innovative ways to tackle fatbergs through better FOG management.
When selecting potential speakers to approach we wanted to make sure that we provided a holistic view of the FOG ecosystem throughout the event. That meant approaching speakers who operate throughout the FOG lifecycle including FOG managers, industry consultants, public water and the sewage industry, the hospitality and academia among others. We also wanted to make sure that we were featuring people who were looking to push the boundaries with the FOG efforts in new and interesting ways.
Among other subjects, the European FOG Summit 2020 had talks and debates covering:
Mar is responsible for British Water technical initiatives and focus groups in various areas of the water sector, including Innovation, Sustainable Water Management, Wastewater Treatment Plants, Real-Time Monitoring, Micropollutants, Data & Analytics, and FOG.
Mar currently provides the secretariat to the UK Grease Contractors Association (GCA) and the FOGWISE group. Mar became involved in the water industry in 2005 when she worked as a consultant in the irrigation sector in Spain.
Mar has a doctorate in environmental science and sustainable water treatment.
Global citizen and seasoned executive Olivier loves spearheading growth initiatives with new technologies that improves’ people life.
A firm believer that technology unleashes collaboration for the greater good of local communities, Olivier has helped government and private organizations around the world with satellite and wireless telecommunications, online customer experience, public transit and environment.
At SwiftComply Oliver ensures more municipalities in North America can experience the benefits of water and wastewater online compliance programs. Olivier holds an MBA from Duke University and is now settled in San Francisco Bay Area.
As head of office Nienke is committed to innovative and effective supervision.
Among others in the Horeca (Food Service Business). Protecting the sewer is one of the focal points for the DCMR. Clogged sewers create environmental damage and inconvenience for both citizens and businesses. DCMR want to prevent that. DCMR work with a combined intervention approach: information and education, conducting inspections and (where necessary) deploying sanctions.
For DCMR it is essential to work together with municipalities and branch organizations to reach (start-up) catering entrepreneurs.
Tom Freyberg is the founder and director of Atlantean Media. An award-winning environmental journalist, his articles have been published in The Times, The Guardian, and CNN, among others.
He covered high profile interviews, including Singapore Environment Minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, and Robert F. Kennedy Jnr.
In the summer of 2018, he launched Atlantean Media, an international digital content creation company serving the environmental engineering industries, with a particular focus on water. Through Atlantean Tom acts as the content director for Aquatech Global Events and also serves as the content strategist for a new feature-length documentary, Brave Blue World, featuring Matt Damon.
With a professional background in the catering, waste and technology industry, Lily has a heart for innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship.
At Suez she has helped governments from different levels such as local municipalities, European Commission and several ministries in Belgium to deal with waste in a responsible and sustainable way. Her ticket to Google in Dublin has opened her eyes when it comes to opportunities that comes with technology to help businesses thrive.
Today at SwiftComply she’s a firm believer that that modern environmental challenges can be tackled in an efficient and smart way. Working together with governments, allows her and the entire team to influence and educate mainstream entrepreneurs on the dangers growing below our feet.
Steve has worked since February 2013 for Southern Water as a Network Protection and Enforcement Officer.
One of his primary responsibilities is the FOG & Unflushables Project, where he works as enforcement for the Trade Effluent Department, Tankering, and 3rd Party Recovery.
Steve’s role is to investigate sewer misuse and abuse from both Traders and Food Service Establishments as well as assisting in the investigation of sewer blockages, internal and external flooding, pollutions, and illegal connections. Steve has made contact with major National and International Food Service Establishments to deal with the issue of FOG at a higher level, ensuring a consistent approach across those companies.
Global citizen and seasoned executive Olivier loves spearheading growth initiatives with new technologies that improves’ people life.
A firm believer that technology unleashes collaboration for the greater good of local communities, Olivier has helped government and private organizations around the world with satellite and wireless telecommunications, online customer experience, public transit and environment.
At SwiftComply Oliver ensures more municipalities in North America can experience the benefits of water and wastewater online compliance programs. Olivier holds an MBA from Duke University and is now settled in San Francisco Bay Area.
Tom Curran is a lecturer in UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering at University College Dublin. He was a Fulbright Scholar (TechImpact Award 2017-18) at North Carolina State University to develop an advance warning system for sewer blockages.
He leads the EU Horizon 2020 AgroCycle waste project with 26 partners across Europe and China. He contributes to media articles about fatbergs.
Working with Waternet since 2001, Thinka has extensive project management experience in several health and safety fields. This includes the “International certified Model of Good Practice” and various Safety awareness programs.
Thinka heads up the “FOG and Wet Wipes” project, which works to improve the health and safety of the workers in sewage and wastewater plants.
With over 37 years’ experience in the wastewater field, Teresa has a Class IV Wastewater Operator Certification, a Pretreatment Coordinator Certification, and a degree in Analytical Chemistry.
Teresa is responsible for the development and implementation of the City Sewer Use Ordinance & the Industrial Pretreatment Program. The program ensures that wastewater discharges comply with state, local & federal mandates.
Stephen has worked for Southern Water as a Network Protection and Enforcement Officer for the past four years.
He was specifically recruited to work on the FOG & Unflushable Project. This project focuses on Food Service Establishments and assists investigations into sewer blockages, internal and external flooding, pollutions, and illegal connections. Stephen gathers evidence, investigates issues, and enforces compliance standards. As part of this role, he connects with major national and international Food Service Establishments.
He has also worked with colleagues from the grease contractors industry to deal with the issue of FOG at a higher level, ensuring a consistent approach across those companies.
Karyn Georges has nearly 20 years’ experience working within the water sector, focusing on sewer networks, wastewater treatment, and resource recovery.
She is the Head of Consulting (UK) within Isle Utilities, an Innovation and Technology consultancy with offices across the globe. Isle works with technology companies, investors, and end-users to bring innovative solutions to life.
Recently, Karyn led a project team to deliver the UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) project on FOG Control and FOG Collection: A joined-up approach.
Bas de Nijs is a mechanical engineer who’s specialized in sewer network calculations since 1994 in Amsterdam.
His areas of expertise are: identifying and justifying cost-effective infrastructure improvements for sewer and drainage systems and solving urban flooding- and sewer overflow related pollution problems. Since 2015 his responsibilities lie in the daily operation of the sewer pumping stations along with the sewer networks, CSOs and WWTPs.
Clare worked with Anglian Water to establish a UK water industry specification for flushability.
A former print and broadcast journalist, she started her own communications company specialising in environmental public relations and has driven positive behaviour change working with communities, national stakeholders and NGOs.
She has over 15 years’ experience in the water industry focussing on result driven projects in grease management, unflushables and hidden plastics. To highlight river pollution, Clare commissioned the multi -award winning Shopping Trolley Art project encouraging people to adopt a riverbank and promote RiverCare, Keep Britain Tidy and Anglian Water’s joint scheme.
Enda has over 16 years’ experience working in the water services industry, this includes water treatment, wastewater treatment, pumping station operations, sludge treatment techniques, safety auditing & inspections and trade effluent management.
He holds an honours degree in Civil Engineering and is currently the Source Control Regional Lead for the Eastern Midland Region responsible for trade effluent compliance.
Enda currently manages the Dublin FOG inspection programme and is also actively working on the development and implementation of a National FOG reduction programme for Irish Water.
After finding her way into the industry several years ago, Laura has developed a passion for all things water.
Starting in drinking water, she has experienced the extent of regulation required to drive an efficient water sector and the affects water misuse can impose on human and environmental health.
Joining SwiftComply in 2019 to lead the UK business, Laura has come full circle with the challenges the industry faces. She is an advocate for positive change, alongside a keen supporter of women in water.
As a Project and Material Resource manager, on a daily basis Steven deals with the most diverse waste streams from the industrial and private markets.
All materials consumed are turned in waste sooner or later. This endpoint as a consumer item is the starting point at SUEZ. Steven’s team looks for the best recycling technology within SUEZ for these waste streams. As there are many types of waste with very different processing techniques, Steven has focused on different subgroups: organic waste such as green waste, sludges, oils and fats, food scraps.
Natalia has over ten years’ experience researching bioprocess engineering projects.
She has worked on include Cascade protein production from insects, Microalgal biofuels production, and Biochemical analysis of bacterial lipid markers.
In 2017 Natalia joined Canfield Water Institute to undertake an EngD project as part of the Industrial Doctorate Centre for the Water Sector (ICD STREAM). The goal of which is to establish how fat, oil, and grease (FOG) deposit form in the sewer network and how they can, we can manage them using bio-additives.
Dickon joined Argent Energy in 2005 as Development Director during construction of their Scottish biodiesel plant, the first tallow-to-biodiesel plant in the EU.
Initially responsible for biodiesel sales and marketing, now, as Director of Corporate Affairs, he is deeply involved in legislative and regulatory affairs, working on the various frameworks for transport decarbonisation as it continues to become more crucial for the future of renewable fuels.
As well as advocacy at EU, Dutch and UK levels, Dickon is Vice President of the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) in which he also leads the EU Advanced Biodiesel group of companies.
Regulation plays a big role in FOG management. This article shows how different countries deal with this and what can be improved.
Food service establishments (FSEs) are taking a big hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With health organisations recommending isolation and
Earlier this year, specialists in water and wastewater management gathered in Amsterdam for the European FOG Summit 2020. The different
With multiple reports of fatbergs popping up across the UK, this is one challenge that doesn’t seem to be going
When it comes to preventing food businesses from polluting the sewers, water companies in the UK follow the doctors’ maxim:
We wanted to emphasize “innovation through collaboration” not only in the fact that we hosting the first European FOG summit
This video features:
1. Renze van Houten, Managing Director at Waternet
2. Dr. Tom Curran, Director, of MSc Environmental Technology Programme at University College Dublin
3. Nienke de Wilde, Lead Inspection and Enforcement at DCMR
4. Tom Freyberg, Content Director at Aquatech
5. Lily Van Hende, Country Manager at SwiftComply
When asking why hosting the European FOG Summit for its second time, Waternet's Managing Director - Renze van Houten - explains that the fight against fatbergs is undoubtedly key in their daily business.
We choose Amsterdam for the European FOG Summit for a few reasons, outside of the beautiful architecture and endless canals of course. We 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.
In 2018, we launched our 'Vetstrijder' (fat fighter) 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 less than 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.
This video features:
1. Renze van Houten, Managing Director at Waternet
2. Lily Van Hende, Country Manager at SwiftComply
3. Dr.Tom Curran, Director, of MSc Environmental Technology Programme at University College Dublin
4. Bas de Nijs, Senior Wastewater Engineer at Waternet
5. Karyn Georges, Head of Consulting at Isle Utilities
6. Elvira Gabos, Fats Oils and Grease & Unflushables Project Manager at Southern Water
7. Dr. Mar Batista, Technical Manager at British Water
8. Nienke de Wilde, Lead Inspection and Enforcement at DCMR
9. Gerard van der Jagt, Inspector at DCMR
10. Tom Freyberg, Content Director at Aquatech
11. William Martens, Vlario and Farys
12. Steven Wante, Project & Material Resource Manager at Suez Belgium
We challenged experts to see what they considered is the best way to tackle FOG: education, regulation or innovation?
This video features:
1. Renze van Houten, Managing Director at Waternet
2. Steven Wante, Project & Material Resource Manager at Suez Belgium
3. Dr. Tom Curran, Director, of MSc Environmental Technology Programme at University College Dublin
4. Bas de Nijs, Senior Wastewater Engineer at Waternet
5. Karyn Georges, Head of Consulting at Isle Utilities
6. Elvira Gabos, Fats Oils and Grease & Unflushables Project Manager at Southern Water
7. Dr. Mar Batista, Technical Manager at British Water
8. Nienke de Wilde, Lead Inspection and Enforcement at DCMR 9.Gerard van der Jagt, Inspector at DCMR
10. Tom Freyberg, Content Director at Aquatech
11. William Martens, Vlario and Farys
12. Lily Van Hende, Country Manager at SwiftComply
THE 2021 EUROPEAN FOG SUMMIT IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN
Sustainable water management, wastewater treatment, sewage, grease traps…if these are the words that typically pique your interest, then we have the conference for you… 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.
The 2020 European FOG Summit was an event like no other. And if you couldn’t attend it, don’t worry: we’re already working away on the 2021 European FOG Summit.
Pack your bags for a trip to the coastal city of Brighton, in the UK, where the 2021 edition will take place.
Be the first to hear about dates, speakers, and early bird offers.
THE 2021 EUROPEAN FOG SUMMIT IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN
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