Global Waste Lab is joining ISWA World Congress 2026 as a Knowledge Partner.
The Congress will take place in London from 9–11 November 2026, hosted by CIWM in partnership with ISWA.
For Global Waste Lab, this is a chance to support one of the most important global gatherings for the waste and resource management sector.
Across the sector, there is a huge amount of practical learning about what works, what does not, and what helps waste projects continue after the first phase of funding or support has ended.
The problem is that this learning is not always easy to find or use.
Global Waste Lab was created to help close that gap.
The Academy makes practical waste management learning easier to access.
The Studio is there to help organisations, funders and project teams apply that learning in real projects, with a focus on systems that are realistic, locally appropriate and more likely to last.
Building towards ISWA 2026
As a Knowledge Partner, Global Waste Lab will share practical learning in the lead-up to ISWA 2026.
This will include the Global Waste Lab’s ISWA 2026 Spotlight Series, developed with support from be Waste Wise and endorsed by CIWM.
The Spotlight Series is based on Global Waste Lab’s Seven foundations of resilient waste projects – a practical framework developed from the findings of the UNEP / ISWA Global Waste Management Outlook 2024.
The series will turn those findings into practical conversations about what makes waste projects last.
Get Spotlight Series updates
Speakers and session details will be announced soon. Sign up below to receive updates, registration links and new learning from the series.
Why focus on what lasts?
Many waste projects start well. They have good people behind them, real local need and a clear reason to exist.
The harder test comes later.
Does the service keep running when the first funding ends? Can local teams maintain the equipment? Do the finances make sense? Is there enough local ownership to keep adapting when conditions change?
The Spotlight Series will use the Seven foundations to explore these questions with people who have direct experience of trying to make waste systems work in practice.
Join the global waste sector in London
ISWA World Congress 2026 will bring the international waste and resource management sector to London from 9–11 November 2026.
The Congress will be a chance to hear from sector leaders, exchange practical experience, meet people working across different parts of the waste system, and take part in conversations about where waste and resource management needs to go next.
For Global Waste Lab, the Spotlight Series is one way to help build towards those conversations – by bringing practical learning into the lead-up to the Congress and carrying it into the wider ISWA 2026 programme.
Registration is now open.
