Innovation Award

 

SHAPING PROGRESS – TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

VAK INNOVATION AWARD - MAINTAIN QUALITY OF LIFE AND DRIVE PROGRESS

As the largest platform for water, wastewater, waste and raw materials management, IFAT is the international meeting point for the industry - with innovative offerings that set standards for the future.

The VAK Innovation Prize was announced again at IFAT 2024! The Association for Work Equipment and Municipal Vehicle Industry is thus building on the success of the last three tenders. The prize is intended to honor technical or organizational-structural innovations in the areas of waste disposal, street and sewer cleaning, which help to solve the growing tasks in the industry more efficiently. The winners were presented and chosen at IFAT 2024 in May.

The managing director of the VAK, Anna Breimer, explains: 
“The health and safety of people and the preservation of resources are always at the forefront of new developments. Pollution, noise and dust levels would have to be reduced. Logistical supply and disposal processes could be bundled more efficiently, and intelligent networks and digital platforms could be further expanded. And last but not least, the further improvement of working conditions for employees in the waste disposal industry is an important concern. The industry is supported by ongoing innovative concepts and new technology. The VAK would like to highlight and honor special achievements in this area with the innovation award and thus contribute to securing the future."

VAK members who are also exhibitors at IFAT can apply. The application documents are available to all members in advance in the internal area. If you are interested in becoming a member, please contact the office at info@vak-ev.de

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 

Winners of the innovation award 2024

First place in the vehicle/equipment category went to Brock Kehrtechnik GmbH with its all-electric BROCK VS6e truck-mounted sweeper. The second prize is shared by two winners this year: FFG Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG with the overall concept for the introduction of the electric suction and flushing vehicle as a recycler and Wiedemann enviro tec GmbH for its SUPER 1000 e-tec - all-electric sewer cleaner with water recycling. Third place went to HIAB Germany GmbH with the MULTILIFT Ultima ZERO.

In the category Component Control Technology, the jury awarded first prize to Zöller-Kipper GmbH for the SmartScan - waste detection in real time. Second prize went to FAUN Umwelttechnik GmbH & Co. KG for the FAUN Safety User Display (SUD).

Winners of the Innovation Award 2022

In the vehicle / equipment category, our member Kanalreiniger.eu took first place with its all-electric, deep garage suction flushing vehicle in the N1 class (3.5t). ICEE Jungo AG took second place with its multi-function vehicle and Palfinger AG third place with its eDRIVE battery-operated crane.

In the assembly / component / control technology category, ViSy GmbH took first place with its RAS 2.0 3D space monitoring system. The Worker Protection System II from Zöller-Kipper GmbH came second and the FAUN Smart Compaction System third.

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.