Creative solutions for our environment

Since 2006, Veolia Environmental Services has been operating a methane production plant in Germany to recover decomposing food waste, collected in part from supermarkets and restaurants, to produce an alternative energy ressource. The biogas generated by waste fermentation is recovered and eventually used to optimize the energy consumption of a local football stadium. This new source of energy is completely environment-friendly, making it possible to avoid 5,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions a year.

One of the main objectives of the desalination plant on Australia's Gold Coast, operated by Veolia Water, was the protection of the abundant marine life in the vicinity, which includes a wide variety of fish, coral and marine mammal species. The location of the water intake and outlet tunnels was designed to limit the impact on the marine environment. The inlet and diffusers have therefore been located more than a kilometer offshore, at a depth of 20 meters, which places them. below the surface currents. In addition, the outlet diffusers installed quickly disperse the brine.

Dalkia is building seven new biomass plants in France to generate electricity and heat more than 82,000 homes. The 570,000 metric tons of recovered biomass comes mainly from wood not used by the woodworking industry or left in the forest. In this way Dalkia is helping to maintain the forests to promote their growth. The company has also created a subsidiary, Bois Energie France, which has formed long-term partnerships with all timber industry players.

To combat water wastage and extend access to water to a greater number of people, Veolia Environnement in Morocco has installed an innovative system called Saqayti, automatic standpipes that distribute a fixed quantity of water for a prepaid fee to families without their own mains water supply. The smart card is credited each month with a volume of water prepaid by the community. This initiative has rationalized consumption and reduced the water bill by 50% and, at the same time, made water services available to a wider section of the population.

In 2010, the Nice Côte d'Azur transportation system successfully deployed "BPass", a mobile phone-based solution designed, financed and implemented by Veolia Transport. Now, passengers can access a range of services (purchase travel credits and top up their cards, validate their journey and access information in real time) via their mobile phone thanks to near field communication (NFC) technology. This contactless technology innovation has won the Prix de l'Innovation in the French government's state modernization award scheme.

In 1994, keen to develop skills, anticipate changes in the sector and share a common culture, Veolia Environnement created Campus Veolia. Veolia Environnement is one of the few companies to have set up its own university awarding State-recognized degrees and diplomas. The network consists of 18 centers in 11 countries and adapts its training policy and programs to the specific requirements of the region, country and division concerned. Over 500,000 training initiatives are now carried out worldwide each year.

To motivate its managers and raise awareness of health and safety issues, Dalkia has created a roadmap for the whole company which takes the form of monthly and yearly reports. These give the results for each unit on the basis of accident frequency and seriousness rates. Managers add information to the road map on their risk-prevention strategy and action plans, along with their progress on each issue. Each country has access to all data, which helps foster a healthy sense of competition to promote progress and continuous improvement.