WasteExpo Scrapbook

Patti Verbanas

Although Chicago's more central location did not boost 1998's WasteExpo attendance as its organizers had hoped, exhibitors and attendees alike touted the show as a success.

This year, 531 exhibitors set up booths in a record 245,500 net square feet at McCormick Place South - down from 560 exhibitors last year.

In the past few years, WasteExpo attendance has been on a steady decline: Only 10,400 people registered for the Chicago show, down from 12,425 attendees at 1997's Atlanta show and 13,300 attendees at 1996's Las Vegas show.

However, the reduced number of exhibitors and Chicago's gray skies did not dampen attendees' spirits as they milled from booth to booth. Crowd movement in the exhibition hall was steady, and grinning exhibitors reported a strong showing of serious buyers rather than tire-kickers.

Indeed, during booth breakdown, some exhibitors told World Wastes that if they had invested only one day at the show, it would have paid off.

World Wastes' editorial staff and photographer Jon Randolph met with various exhibitors toward the show's end to compile this WasteExpo scrapbook.