Introducing our Impact 2023 Strategy

18 Aug. 2020

Our planet and society today find themselves at a historic turning point.

Never before have we been so keenly aware of the environment and climate emergency, and the impact they have on people’s lives, especially the most vulnerable populations. We strongly believe in the need to work together to develop tangible solutions that protect our planet. We are duty-bound to take action.

The growing success of the circular economy in the UK has now taken a key step forward with the deployment of Veolia’s latest Sustainability strategy - Impact 2023. Currently managing over 2 million tonnes of reclaimed material the company is now aiming to expand its pioneering new technologies that lower resource use. Backed by a planned multi-million pound investment by 2022, this commitment adds to the £2 billion already invested in new infrastructure across the UK.

Impact 2023:
Four strategic movements within Veolia

A multi-faceted performance

We elevate our ambition by committing to multi-faceted performance. That means we focus equally on the various types of performance, including financial performance, commercial performance, social performance, societal performance and environmental performance, all of which complement one another and form a virtuous circle.

Veolia has publicly committed to 18 tangible performance indicators, which cover the five types of performance. The fulfillment of the objectives will be regularly audited and evaluated by a third-party organization. This provides the basis for the variable compensation awarded to Veolia executives.

Develop operations where we boast specialist expertise

We are stepping up the pace of growth of our most complex operations, where we boast specialist expertise to bring about the environmental transition.

We develop activities that prevent and clean up toxic pollution, such as hazardous waste and industrial process water treatment and soil decontamination.
We develop activities that help to control the use of key resources and combat the climate imbalance, such as services to enhance energy efficiency of industries and buildings, plastics recycling, refuse-derived fuel production, biodegradable waste recovery and industrial ecology services, including circular economy loops and pooling utilities on industrial parks.
We develop adaptation solutions to deal with climate change, such as reusing wastewater and seawater desalination.

Reinvent our core business activities

We reinforce and reinvent our core business activities to enhance their impact and performance.

We enrich our water and wastewater services, including innovative sludge management solutions and inclusive solutions to improve access to water, and we reinvent our way of working and deploying our services with our stakeholders, such as governance and consumer relations.
We transform the collection of non-hazardous industrial waste, for example through new digital services and a pricing policy established according to the quality of raw materials.
We modernize and diversify our energy grid business by transforming coal-powered heating networks through the use of green energy, deploying new services for electricity grids and developing mini heating or cooling networks.

Imagine innovative solutions for tomorrow

We imagine and develop innovative solutions to anticipate and satisfy the essential needs of tomorrow.

We develop the answers to emerging needs in:

Health and new pollutants: measuring and improving indoor air quality and treating micropollutants found in water
New material loops: recycling electric vehicle batteries and electronic waste, capturing and using CO2 and pursuing eco-design with industrial partners
Food chain: converting organic waste into organic fertilizers or animal proteins and developing aquaculture, urban agriculture solutions as well as improving the taste of drinking water
Adaptation to the consequences of the climate imbalance: managing crises, in particular with our mobile units to prevent rising water levels and droughts, reusing water, preventing flooding and protecting urban cooling islands
New energy services: improving electric flexibility and demand management, including virtual power plants and energy storage, and developing microgrids
New digital services: developing supervision centers for plants and treatment facilities, web-based waste management platforms, artificial intelligence to sort waste and incubation platforms for social entrepreneurs