STEP by Pollutec · 2026

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key facts

• STEP, short for Salon de la Transformation Écologique by Pollutec (the Ecological Transformation Trade Show), is the Paris event of the Pollutec brand, built around two pillars: decarbonisation and the circular economy, applied to industry and local authorities.
• It is not a new name for Pollutec, the major environment trade show held in Lyon. It is the former Pollutec Paris, launched in November 2024 and renamed STEP in October 2025. The two trade shows share the same organiser and alternate: Lyon in odd-numbered years, Paris in even-numbered years.
• Next edition: Tuesday 1 to Wednesday 2 December 2026, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Hall 1. Open 9am to 6pm on Tuesday and 9am to 5pm on Wednesday.
• Organiser: RX France. No co-organiser. Held every two years, in even-numbered years.
• Compact two-day format. For 2026, the organiser expects more than 200 exhibitors. In 2024, under the name Pollutec Paris, the trade show brought together 8,600 professional participants and 300 exhibitors.
• Paid access for professional visitors (Pass at €45 excl. VAT for both days, pre-sale), free for public-sector players, teachers and students, jobseekers and the press (badge subject to validation).

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The offer is built around low-carbon and circular solutions that can be deployed at scale. On the decarbonisation side: energy efficiency and sobriety, waste heat recovery, electrification of processes, thermal renewables. On the circularity side: ecodesign, resource sobriety (water and raw materials), reuse, recycling and recovery.

The trade show also welcomes the professions that support these projects: consulting and engineering firms, banks, funders and insurers, professional federations, institutions and training bodies. The organiser's sales team divides exhibitors into the following families: water, waste, energy, risk prevention and management, sustainable cities and biodiversity, measurement and treatment, ecological transition consulting, bioeconomy and biomaterials, collective and institutional players.

Two shared areas structure the exhibition: the Recycling Village, organised with FEDERREC, the Fédération professionnelle des entreprises du recyclage (the French recycling industry federation), and the Startups & Entrepreneurs Village, which includes a demonstration area.

Notable exhibitors

The 2026 exhibitor list is published on the official website, with a search engine by exhibitor and by product.

Visitor quality

STEP targets decision-makers rather than technicians. Without specifying an edition or a measurement method, the organiser announces a visitor base made up of 85% private sector and 15% public sector, with profiles including senior executives, strategic decision-makers, specifiers and technical teams. The sectors targeted range from industry and manufacturing to infrastructure, construction and urban development, as well as finance, investment, research and education. The website also announces 15% international participants, without a year.

In 2024, Pollutec Paris visitors were split between 80% private sector and 20% public sector, with 45% decision-makers, 45% specifiers and 10% technicians, according to the figures published by the organiser after the edition.

This is the deliberate difference from the Lyon trade show: according to Anne-Manuèle Hébert, director of Pollutec and STEP, STEP's approach is meant to attract decision-makers and specifiers, complementing the traditional Pollutec audience of experts and technical specifiers. No OJS attendance audit is published for the Paris edition.

Events and community

Conference programme

The official programme takes place on the Main Stage. The honorary president of STEP is Brune Poirson, former French Secretary of State for the Ecological Transition, whom the programme has speaking at the official opening on Tuesday at 10:00, alongside the director of the trade show. Access to the conferences and workshops is free for participants, with no prior registration, and simultaneous interpretation into French and English is available through an app.

According to the online programme, Tuesday 1 December 2026 is organised around two main themes, “Géopolitique & gestion stratégique des ressources” and “Construire la robustesse industrielle européenne”: France-Germany perspectives on decarbonising Europe, a keynote on the Circular Economy Act, and round tables on critical materials, the electrification of European industry, the circular supply chain and the financing of the transition. Speakers announced in the 2026 programme include Janez Potočnik, co-chair of the UNEP International Resource Panel, Julie Hollis, Secretary General of EuroGeoSurveys, and Antoni Ballabriga (BBVA). According to the organiser's press release of 29 September 2026, the junior minister for the Ecological Transition, Mathieu Lefèvre, is expected to speak at the opening session. This same press release mentions a third theme for the day, water preservation and circularity, which does not yet appear in the online programme.

Wednesday 2 December is devoted to case studies: the industrial symbiosis of Kalundborg in Denmark, waste heat recovery at the Mo industrial park in Norway, the decarbonisation of a steelworks with Feralpi Group, carbon capture and storage at a cement plant through Vicat's Rhône Décarbonation project, and then a masterclass on scaling up circularity (batteries, photovoltaic panels, textiles). The same press release also announces workshops on regulation and financing on that day.

Alongside the Main Stage, two forums are reserved for practical cases and innovations from exhibitors and partners, and one-hour workshops led by experts are held on each of the two days.

Business meetings and activities

The B2B Meetings let participants schedule qualified meetings in advance, on an online platform open to exhibitors and visitors. The September 2026 press release also announces an interclustering meeting programme organised by Enterprise Europe Network, with Belgian and British clusters, as well as delegations of buyers and specifiers from Germany, Belgium, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Other areas announced for 2026: the Café STEP, the Biomim'Galerie, an exhibition on biomimicry put together with NewCorp Conseil, and the STEP Innovation Challenge, which showcases emerging projects from research and start-ups. In 2024, this competition recognised ilion Water Technologies for a low electric field desalination system.

Community and networks

At the time of writing, the official website's partners page lists programme partners (ACR+, Circle Economy, EuroGeoSurveys, Impact France, InnoEnergy, Orée), institutional partners (ATEE, ASTEE, Axelera, Bpifrance, Business France, CCI Paris Île-de-France, Enterprise Europe Network, FEDERREC, PEXE, Perifem, Paris&Co, UPDS, among others) and event partners such as 1% for the Planet and Café Joyeux.

On the press side, Actu-Environnement and Emploi-Environnement are among the media partners, alongside Spanish, Italian, Belgian and Polish titles, consistent with the stated European ambition. The trade show is held under the high patronage of the President of the Republic.

On site: what to know

For access, parking and accommodation, see the venue page: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles (1 place de la Porte de Versailles, 75015 Paris; metro line 12 station Porte de Versailles and line 8 station Balard; trams T2 and T3a stop Porte de Versailles; three Vélib' stations nearby).

Specific to the trade show: everything takes place in Hall 1. Opening hours: 9am to 6pm on Tuesday 1 December 2026 and 9am to 5pm on Wednesday 2 December, with exhibitor access from 8am. The exhibitor reception is inside Hall 1, behind the main reception.

Online registration is compulsory for visitors, with the badge made available fifteen days before opening; the confirmation with QR code is enough at the entrance. The Pass at €45 excl. VAT gives access to both days, the programme, the forums, the workshops and the B2B Meetings; the organiser states that it saves €35 compared with the rate applied during the trade show. Jobseekers go directly to reception with proof from France Travail. Under-18s are not admitted, except students registered beforehand.

The organiser offers negotiated accommodation rates via Bnetwork and up to 10% off Air France and KLM flights.

Warning: RX France points out that third-party companies are offering the trade show's databases by e-mail, and reminds you that it neither sells nor rents out its data; these solicitations are fraudulent.

How much does it cost to exhibit

Preparing your visit

For exhibitors

• Choose between STEP and Pollutec Lyon according to your target: STEP aims at decision-makers and funders over two days, Lyon at a more technical audience over four days. The organiser itself presents STEP as the format suited to companies that want to optimise their resources and investments.
• Activate the B2B Meetings before the trade show: the platform is used to schedule meetings in advance, which matters on a two-day format.
• Send the free e-invitations from the exhibitor area, public-sector clients first: their access is free.
• Aim for a speaking slot: the Main Stage call for speakers reviews applications on a rolling basis, and the two forums serve as a showcase for exhibitors' and partners' practical cases.
• For a recycling or circular economy offer, look at the FEDERREC Recycling Village; for a young company, the Startups & Entrepreneurs Village.

For decision-maker visitors

• Buy the Pass in pre-sale: the price goes up during the trade show. Public-sector players, teachers and students get in free but must also register online.
• Keep Tuesday morning for the keynote on the Circular Economy Act and the round table on critical materials, and Wednesday for the case studies, which are more directly transferable.
• Identify the announced buyer delegations (Germany, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom) and use the meetings platform, open to all exhibitors and visitors, to schedule meetings.
• Plan to leave at 5pm on Wednesday, as the second day closes earlier.

CSR policy and initiatives

STEP has a responsibility policy built around two ambitions: reducing the event's environmental footprint and developing its accessibility. It forms part of the group's commitments: RX and its parent company RELX are signatories of the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge and the Climate Pledge, with targets of halving their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching Net Zero Carbon by 2040.

The measures announced for the trade show are concrete: removal of carpets in the aisles, gradual reduction and recycling of remaining carpets, signage in recyclable materials, LED lighting and reduced light intensity, heating regulation, application of UNIMEV's energy sobriety plan for professional events, removal of plastic consumables and water fountains. The organiser also sets a target of reducing waste by 10% at each edition and increasing recovery and reuse by 5%, with a local partner to support exhibitors and stand designers.

On the social side: wheelchair access on all stands, an accessibility plan for Hall 1, a code of conduct and a partnership with Café Joyeux.

The venue brings its own guarantee: Viparis, operator of Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, states that in 2014 it was the world's first events operator certified ISO 20121 across all of its sites, and has run its Better Events policy since 2018.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

Only one previous edition is documented on the official website. Pollutec Paris was launched on 26 and 27 November 2024, in the same Hall 1, as a complementary event to Pollutec, in an even-numbered year, when Lyon does not take place. The results published by the organiser report 8,600 professional participants, 300 exhibitors, 90 conferences and more than 750 business meetings.

The name change, announced on 7 October 2025, is also a change of scope. Pollutec Paris presented itself as an environment and energy trade show; STEP narrows its focus to two subjects, decarbonisation and the circular economy, and asserts a European dimension, with a largely international programme and media partners from several countries. The organiser expects more than 200 exhibitors in 2026, against 300 in the results of the 2024 edition. As the thematic scope has been narrowed, the two figures are not directly comparable: we will have to wait for the December 2026 results to gauge the effect of the new format on attendance.

For an exhibitor, the question is not choosing STEP over Pollutec but knowing which audience they are looking for. Lyon remains the major technical showcase for the environment sector, over four days; STEP is betting on a short format, decision-makers and funders, and a more European positioning. The dates of the next edition had not been announced at the time of writing.

All data that does not state its source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (stepbypollutec.com).