On March 12, the 24th International Forum «Ecology of the Big City» kicked off at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre. St. Petersburg’s achievements in the environmental field were commented by the city’s Governor Aleksander Beglov.

«By the end of 2024, the Northern Capital entered Russia’s top ten regions by waste management. This is the result of well-organized work over recent years on waste accumulation, treatment and disposal, as well as environmental education.

The President of the Russian Federation called the achievement of environmental well-being one of new national goals. Last year, St. Petersburg launched the second stage of the Waste-Recycling Complex «Volkhonka» with its capacity of 600,000 tons of waste per year, which is a third of the waste generated in the megapolis. The record 367 water bodies are included in the targeted water-area cleaning program for 2025. In the Northern Capital, the unique system for receiving hazardous waste also successfully operates: in 2024, over 705.5 tons of the waste were collected and properly disposed of. Implementing environmental protection programs in St. Petersburg will continue as part of the new National Project «Environmental Well-Being», quoted Beglov’s words the Governor’s Press Service.

Sergey Voronkov, CEO of ExpoForum International LLC, spoke about the Forum significance.

«EXPOFORUM strives for creating all the necessary formats within the framework of «Ecology of the Big City» for discussing issues in the field of environmental management, preservation of water resources and biodiversity, and waste management. 40 events of the congress program are dedicated to these and other issues. The events will be visited by 5,000 specialists. At the Exhibition, 40 leading companies and organizations in the environmental field will demonstrate their achievements. The Business Contact Centre will host 500 direct meetings and negotiations between suppliers and major customers of environmental solutions», noted Voronkov.

The CEO of ExpoForum International LLC also spoke about the environmental principles being implemented at the convention and exhibition centre.

According to him, EXPOFORUM promotes the principle of shared consumption economy, the economic model based on the collective use of goods and services, exchange and lease instead of ownership.

This includes the lease of bins for separate garbage collection, the lease of garbage cans, the repeated use of exhibition structures, the lease of equipment for cleaning and removing snow, washing the territory, etc.

Reducing consumption through the introduction of reuse is the most efficient environmental practice. It is much more efficient to return goods to economic circulation than to recycle them. This principle prevents the formation of waste.

A good example is a new carpet on a glue-free base of a felt fabric type. Firstly, this material is safe for the environment, and secondly, contracts have already been concluded with a number of companies for its use as a recyclable material when it becomes unsuitable for exhibitions.

EXPOFORUM has established the process of separate collection and recycling of garbage. In 2024, over 7 tons of office paper, more than 10 tons of cardboard and 1.5 tons of plastic wrap were delivered. 1 ton of waste paper saves about 17 mature trees from cutting down, which emit oxygen for 30 people. Each recycled ton of paper and corrugated cardboard is 750 kg of new paper products. Recycling of one ton of paper waste saves 1,000 kW of electricity. In this way, EXPOFORUM also reduced the amount of garbage exported from its territory by 20 tons.

The 24th International Forum «Ecology of Big City» takes place at EXPOFORUM on March 12–14.