Futurist Keynote, UAE: The Future of Recycling for BIR

0 14

By Matthew Griffin Keynote Presentations 4th December 2023

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

In this keynote futurist Matthew Griffin explores the Future of Recycling, the industry, the innovations, and digs into why at current rates we may never live sustainably.

Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my blog.

Firstly, thank you to Sophie Burrige OBE, the Chairman of the Bureau of International Recycling, the organisation who represents the majority of the world’s major recyclers from all corners of the industry – from e-waste, fabrics, and plastics, to demolition and scrap metal – for asking me to be their keynote in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

World first, Dubai announces it will 3D print an 80 storey skyscraper in 2020

One of the world’s most important industries and arguably the industry with the greenest vision of them all – to be the industry that enables the lauded Circular Economy and support the continuous recycling of materials and resources and reuse – the recycling industry is, in many people’s opinions, one of the most under rated industries in the world today as we try to prevent environmental Armageddon and avert the climate crisis.

The Future of Recycling 2030, by Keynote Matthew Griffin

Often referred to as waste, rather than resource, every year globally humanity uses over 100 Billion tonnes of the Earth’s resources – ore, wood, and so such – produces over 2.4 Billion tonnes of hard waste, and recycles just 312 Million tonnes – a figure that is dismal by anyones standards. And this figure isn’t because of the industry’s will or technological prowess – which is greater than many people think – it’s because human behaviours see most trash going into the wrong bins, and because investors are so focused on ESG investing that they overlook investing in helping build and scale global recycling capacity.

Dubai announces plans to put the entire Emirate onto the blockchain

During my keynote I summarised the state of the union for the industry, dove into global stats and lifted the lid on government green policies, and showed the audience the latest recycling technologies that will help processors eliminate toxic chemicals from the recycling process, boost material and resource recovery rates, and decarbonise the industry to make it even greener.

Bureau of International Recycling UAE

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, multi-award winning Futurist and named Futurist of the Year 2024, has been described as a "Walking encyclopaedia of the future" by NASA and a futurist polymath. One of the world's most renowned futurists and strategic foresight experts Matthew is the 15 times author of the blockbuster "Codex of the Future" series, and is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years, XPotential University, the world's first free futures and foresight university, and the World Futures Forum which works with the United Nations to solve the worlds greatest challenges. Matthew is an in demand international keynote, acclaimed university lecturer and mentor, and host of the hit Fanatical Futurist podcast.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and run several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world's most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, Dow, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others. He was also the only futurist invited to talk at the UN COP28 held in Dubai alongside world leaders.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.