Award recognises social sustainability
Today Veolia has been named as a winner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, the UK’s highest accolade for business success.
The award was received for setting the sustainability benchmark and its new business strategy which focuses on manufacturing green energy and calories and places it at the centre of the circular economy.
The company recycles over one million tonnes of waste annually and converts non-recyclable waste into energy sufficient to provide electricity and heat to over 300,000 homes.
Beyond satisfying statutory requirements, Veolia distinguished itself as a social sustainability leader; devoting annually 20,000 hours to charity work, donating £50 million pounds to community projects, systematically engaging with schools and helping unemployed people, including ex-offenders, back into work.
Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia Environnement Executive Vice-President UK & Ireland said: “It is an honour to be recognised by Her Majesty the Queen for the work we have done over the last five years transforming the business. This award highlights the work all 14,000 members of staff have undertaken to continue to drive the business forward - for us sustainability is not part of our business, it is our business!”
Approximately 160 Queen’s Awards have been announced this year for outstanding business achievement in the fields of International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.
The awards are made annually by HM The Queen, and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category.