Innovation Award

SHAPING PROGRESS – TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

VAK Innovation Award – maintaining quality of life and shaping progress

At IFAT 2022, the VAK Innovation Award will be presented again. The association thus builds on the success of the previous two competitions. The award honours technical or organisational-structural innovations in the fields of waste disposal, street and sewer cleaning that help solve the growing tasks of the industry more efficiently. The winners will be chosen and presented at IFAT 2022 in May.

The Managing Director of the VAK, Bernd Sackmann, explains: “The health and safety of people and the preservation of resources are always at the forefront of new developments.” According to him, pollutant, noise and dust emissions should be reduced. Logistical supply and disposal processes could be pooled more efficiently and intelligent networks and digital platforms could be further expanded. And last but not least, the further improvement of the working conditions of employees in the waste disposal industry should be an important concern. The industry is driven by continuous innovative concepts and new technology. The VAK would like to highlight and honour special achievements in this area and thereby help secure the future.

In addition to the established categories, this year the “Earth Saver” award will be presented for the first time. With this special award, the executive committee of the VAK wants to honour a company, a project or an initiative that is characterised by particularly sustainable and future-oriented action. The association thus places a particular focus on responsibility towards future generations.

ATTEND THE PRESENTATION OF THE THIRD VAK INNOVATION AWARD

Presentation on the first day of the trade fair|Monday, 30 May 2022 – 1 p.m.
at the joint VAK stand in the outdoor area of IFAT

The jury

The jury consists of representatives of the Federal German Association of Disposal, Water and Raw Material Management Companies (BDE) and the German Association of Local Utilities (VKU) as well as representatives of one private, one public and one public-private entity. The jury meeting will moreover be attended by experts from research and education as well representatives of the press.

Industries & categories

Applications for the Innovation Award may come from the following industries:

• Refuse collection vehicles
• Roll-off tippers, skiploaders, containers and cranes
• Assembly and component suppliers
• Liquid waste disposal and pipe cleaning systems
• Road sweeping vehicles and devices
• Truck manufacturers
• Snow-clearing and gritting vehicles and devices

Applications may be submitted in the following categories:
Vehicle/Equipment or Assembly/Component/Control Technology
by members of the VAK that exhibit at IFAT.

1st prize: prize money per category EUR 3,000.00 
2nd prize: prize money per category EUR 2,000.00 
3rd prize: prize money per category EUR 1,000.00 

Special award “Earth Saver”
The “Earth Saver” award is endowed
with a prize money of EUR 3,000.00.

Winners of the Innovation Award 2018

FAUN Umwelttechnik convinced the jury with BLUEPOWER in the category “Vehicle/Equipment”, and Müller Umwelttechnik and Zoeller-Kipper won with MU-COCKPIT and CLEAN OPTION, respectively, in the category “Assembly/Component/Control Technology”.

In the category “Assembly/Component/Control Technology”, prizes were also awarded to F. X. MEILLER for the MEILLER Diagnostics App (2nd place) and Hiab Germany for SkipTop 2.0 (3rd place). In the category “Vehicle/Equipment”, there were two 2nd places: Hiab Germany with Emoss & Multiflift Futura 12 and HS Fahrzeugbau with The Terberg RosRoca eCollect. The Electric Waste Collection Bike from VDL Containersystemen cycled to 3rd place. 

More information about the award-winning innovations can be found under the respective links.

Winners of the Innovation Award 2016

In the category “Vehicle/Equipment”, our member System Alpenluft received the award for its Wasteloop product and in the category “Assembly/Component/Control Technology”, our member FAUN Umwelttechnik won the 1st prize for its innovative Reversing Safety System – RSS. 

In the category “Vehicle/Equipment”, the 2nd place was won by Aebi Schmidt for its Swingo 200+ Koanda product and the 3rd place was taken by MAN Truck & Bus for its MAN Kombitruck. In the category “Assembly/Component/Control Technology”, two 2nd places were awarded: to Müller Umwelttechnik for its HELI 360-6 TANDEM and to Palfinger for its Fall Protection Mode on the loader crane. The 3rd place was taken by DOSTA Consulting with SUB & SUBWAVE. 

More information about the award-winning innovations can be found under the respective links.