Excitement is building as the opening of WasteCon 2026 rapidly approaches. This, the flagship conference of the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa (IWMSA), will be held at Emperors Palace from 20 to 22 October, under the banner “Golden Legacy, Green Future: Innovating for Excellence.”

This year’s conference will bring together waste management professionals, policymakers, researchers, and innovators from across the region for three days of groundbreaking technical sessions, lively panel discussions, and invaluable networking opportunities.

The event is set to highlight the best that the continent has to offer, including close to almost eighty presentations from practitioners, academics, and industry specialists, covering topics from EPR and AI-driven waste classification to informal sector integration, waste-to-energy, and municipal service delivery.

Pre-event festivities kick off with the IWMSA golf day on 19 October hosted at Benoni Country Club – the perfect way for delegates to warm up ahead of three big days at WasteCon 2026, on and off the fairway.

Day One: Opening Plenary and Presidential Handover

20 October officially opens WasteCon 2026, which includes a plenary session featuring remarks from Gauteng MEC for Environment, Ewan Botha, and an address from Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Berenice Swarts. Additionally, the Institute’s Presidential Inauguration promises to be bittersweet, as outgoing President Patricia Schröder hands over the proverbial reins to incoming President Reon Pienaar.

One of the distinct highlights of the day is the Past Presidents’ Panel, bringing together ten former IWMSA presidents to reflect on the Institute’s illustrious 50-year legacy. This is followed by technical sessions across three concurrent tracks covering extended producer responsibility (EPR), landfill development, and service provision.

The first day of this landmark event closes in style with the much-anticipated Gala Dinner – a glittering, must-attend celebration of fifty golden years for the IWMSA, and the perfect way to toast an historic day. Expect glamour, stellar company and an evening to remember.

Day Two: Regulation, Innovation and Social Inclusion

21 October sees the second day of WasteCon 2026, which covers regulation and compliance, waste-to-resource innovation, healthcare waste solutions, and social inclusion. Additionally, panel sessions address ewaste producer responsibility and the role of education in driving recycling behaviour. The day concludes with a networking function that will be hosted in the Indoor Exhibition Hall.

Day Three: Waste-to-Energy and Technical Tours

Day three – and the final day of this exceptional event – focuses on organic waste, landfill development, and waste-to-energy solutions, including sessions on PFAS management, biogas platforms, and public-private energy-recovery partnerships. A further panel addresses the formal integration of waste pickers into the economy.

Executive Officer, Nicolle de Bruyn, will have the honour of bringing WasteCon 2026 events to a close, before lunch and the commencement of the technical tours.

The technical tours include two site visits, with details as follows:

• Tour 1 – Recycling & Circular Economy Innovation Tour: a visit to the Phambili Services Recycling Centre & Eco Hub and the Madam Waste Demonstration Site, displaying modular, decentralised biogas and composting hubs.
• Tour 2 – Tonkmeter Resource Facility, Springs: a look at landfill engineering, covering liner technology, strain and heat probe monitoring, and long-term landfill integrity management.

At this stage places on both tours are limited and delegates who would like to attend should register without delay.

A 50th Anniversary Milestone

The conference programme is woven through with the IWMSA’s 50th anniversary celebrations, marking five decades of advancing professional waste management across Southern Africa.

“WasteCon 2026 in October will be a singular highlight, not only as our 50th anniversary conference, but also as a genuine opportunity to ask what the next 50 years of waste management in Southern Africa should look like.” ~ Reon Pienaar, incoming President of the IWMSA.

 

Register Today

Registration and full programme details can be viewed here.