Recycling professionals descend on San Diego for ReMA show

The team from Okada at ReMA 2025 in San Diego. (PHOTO: D&Ri/KHL Group)

The mood among both exhibitors and attendees can be described as relaxed and upbeat, with a quiet positivity for business stability and growth emerging—tempering the challenges of the current volatility in the market.

Where conversations at Bauma Munich, which took place just a few weeks ago in Germany, were dominated by the uncertainty created by President Trump’s barrage of tariff announcements, the discussions being had at ReMA have been more tempered and practical in nature.

The ‘wait and see’ stance that many adopted when news of the US tariffs broke has now shifted a gear into ‘we’ll figure it out as we go’.

Indeed, in speaking with equipment OEMs like Japanese attachments manufacturer Okada, D&Ri has learned that when quoting prices, many are telling their customers they will re-quote at the time of sale to make sure they can offer the best equipment deals.

And when it comes to the equipment on show, the exhibitors have not disappointed. The stands of industry giants featured—well—industry giants. Caterpillar, Liebherr, Sennebogen, Sierra, Hyundai, Link-Belt and Atlas all showed off their latest material handlers, which dominated the indoor exhibition hall.

Sierra was among several OEM's that impressed with their latest material handler models at ReMA. (PHOTO: D&Ri/KHL Group)

Large grapples, shears and tiltrotators from companies such as Okada, Shearcore, Genesis and OilQuick made up the majority of models on display, while robotic sorting technology and material processing, monitoring and management tech also made up a significant number of the stands attracting visitor attention.

While some exhibitors have expressed concern that the US-Canada trade war has resulted in fewer Canadian business professionals in attendance, the total number of visitors—which for the most part ranges from C&D waste recycling professionals, metals brokers and project financiers to asset recovery and battery recycling specialists from around the world—is expected to hit around 6,000, with over a third coming from outside North America.