Strides towards sustainability

By Rebecca Goozee, Deputy Editor

Jean-Louis Chaussade, EVP of the €44 billion Suez Group and CEO of subsidiary Suez Environment, shares his thoughts on sustainability, expansion and infrastructure innovation with EU Infra.

For 150 years, the Suez Group has provided public utility services to local authorities, industry and individuals in electricity, gas, energy, water and waste services. When you talk about infrastructure industry heavyweights, Suez is right up there with the biggest and the best, offering sustainable and innovative solutions for the management of public utilities as they face the challenges of demographic growth, urbanisation, higher standards of living and environmental protection. Within the group, Suez Environment federates all the environmental skills in terms of water management, sanitation and waste services. With a sales turnover of €11.4 billion in 2006, Suez Environment represents a considerable 26 percent of the group’s activities.

Jean-Louis Chaussade began his career in water and waste management at Degrémont France in 1978, and went on to work for a number of companies including Dumez, Aguas de Barcelona and Lyonnaise des Eaux before becoming EVP of the Suez Group and CEO of Suez Environment. Chaussade is extremely passionate about all aspects of the water and waste sector, and there is one concern in particular that occupies his thoughts more than any other: the huge investment that will be needed in this sector around the world in the coming years. He believes that the combination of a global population boom combined with the looming issue of climate change means that water and waste projects around the world will need a huge overhaul in the coming decades. With escalating economic growth and a boom in urban development, there will be a huge increase in consumption of water and fossil energy, and Chaussade predicts that by the year 2050, 40 percent of the world’s population will be suffering from water stress.

From a construction and development perspective, these concerns present a number of challenges. In terms of infrastructure, it means that Suez Environment – and particularly its subsidiary Degrémont, the water treatment plant specialist – will have to build the appropriate facilities to meet the growing needs and demands of the global population. All aspects of water production and treatment of wastewater will have to be re-examined, including waste collection, treatment, recycling and recovery. However, Chaussade is confident that Suez Environment, as one of the major players in these areas, will be able to provide relevant and sustainable answers and a rational, expert approach to the situation. “The core businesses of Suez Environment – water and waste management – are really going to contribute to the implementation of sustainable growth, while protecting ecosystems and biodiversity,” he says. “Our activities are at the heart of many 21st century issues.”

Sustainable development
Indeed, sustainable development is an important issue within the infrastructure sector and one that Chaussade takes very seriously. He highlights how sustainable development is one of the key factors behind the success of his business model. “Suez Environment is committed to sustainable development – in fact, it is the very foundation of our positioning and, as a consequence, a key parameter for our development,” he explains.

The rise of environmental and sustainability issues are not only a long-term affirmation of the value of the company’s business model, but are also indicative of their growing importance to Suez clients. To live up to these expectations, Suez Environment implemented a roadmap in 2006 that sets three clear goals for the company’s business activities: that the quality of its activities will be certified by an independent body, in accordance with international guidelines; that all plants and services be brought into compliance with environmental regulations; and that the company will aim to set an example for customers, local authorities and businesses. “These goals concern the increase of safety conditions at work, but also our performances in terms of wastewater treatment, as well as the waste recycling rate,” says Chaussade.

In his view, Suez Environment provides equipment and services that protect the environment and deliver the essentials of life – and it is this reason, he believes, that led to Suez Environment being asked to contribute to the influential Grenelle discussions, a set of political meetings held in France in October 2007 to discuss long-term environmental issues and sustainable development. “Sustainable development is not something fashionable but a real state of mind as well as a commercial necessity,” stresses Chaussade. “One cannot pretend to give advice in the field of environmental issues if you are not yourself strongly involved in this subject.”

In addition to these meetings, a committee was formed in-house to focus on the company’s experience in what they considered to be the most important environmental areas – energy saving, renewable energy, optimising water resources and developments in waste recycling.

Waste-to-energy
As part of its sustainable development policy, Suez Environment is helping to expand waste-to-energy recovery. Waste can become a raw material and, with the latest technologies, it is possible to transform sludge output by purification, wastewater and organic waste into manure, or alternatively use the biogas given off as renewable energy. Biological management of waste is used to produce organic fertilizers, while effectively supplementing the amount of refuse going to landfills or being incinerated. Chaussade believes that such multi-process projects, combining recovery with more conventional treatment, represent the future. Domestic, industrial and agricultural organic waste all represent a considerable source of material that can be recovered using biological treatment. In France, for example, out of the 32 million tons of waste produced by the country, approximately 11 million tons are already subject to bio treatment. “Through our subsidiaries in the waste management sector – Terralys in the matter of sludge valorisation and Novergie for the field of waste recovery – Suez Environment is strongly involved in these markets, particularly in France and Germany,” says Chaussade. “We hope to expand these facilities to other countries soon.”

The Zorbau plant in Germany is one of Suez Environment’s most successful waste-to-energy recovery plants. Launched in 2006, the Zorbau plant treats 300,000 tons of waste each year and produces enough energy to supply approximately 40,000 homes. It has opened the path to increasingly large-scale synergies between waste recovery and energy production. On this particular project, SITA Deutschland partnered with Electrabel Deutschland AG, who market the electricity produced by the Zorbau plant on the Leipzig electricity exchange. “Through highly efficient systems such as these, Suez Environment is increasing the production of renewable energy and helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – essential factors in a more resource-efficient and environment-friendly business model,” says Chaussade.

Innovation
He cites research and development as one of the strategic cornerstones for Suez Environment, and combined with innovation and the development of new technologies the company hopes to meet three of its major requirements: controlling climate change and preserving natural resources; providing customers with quality drinking water and irreproachable service; and protecting the environment and quality of life. In 2007, Suez Environment invested €65 million in its R&D facilities, two-thirds of which was for fundamental research and one-third for technical assistance and knowledge management. “R&D within Suez Environment is developed through a worldwide network that favours the sharing of technological expertise, competencies and know-how between subsidiaries,” explains Chaussade.

Indeed, the R&D policy at Suez Environment continuously improves the operational performances of the group and maintains its technological leadership across both the water and waste value chains. “One of our goals is to be able to meet more and more f the complex challenges facing our industrial and municipal clients,” he says. “To win new contracts, we use differentiating technologies such as odour management, online water meter reading and sludge thermal drying.”

Suez Environment is involved in many successful partnerships in the R&D arena, which have a significant multiplicative effect. In April 2007, for example, in collaboration with Cemagref, a French public agricultural and environmental research institute, Suez Environment signed a three-year framework partnership agreement. The partners also launched the Amperes programme, a major research project dedicated to studying the presence of micro pollutants in wastewater. At a global level, Suez Environment is a partner with common research structures such as the Global Water Research Coalition (GWRC), which brings together the leading players in the water sector and provides finance for research work in the field.

Water for all
More than one billion people in the world today do not have access to safe drinking water, and more than twice that figure do not have access to basic sanitation. Through the Water for All programme, Suez Environment has provided innovative and participative solutions permitting people in underprivileged areas to gain access to these crucial services. The programme has enabled several million people in the low-income districts of Buenos Aries, Casablanca, Manila and La Paz, as well as various provinces in South Africa, to have access to drinking water and sanitation.

“The longstanding, in-depth experience of Suez Environment in underprivileged districts demonstrates that the fundamental criterion for sustainable development is to meet the demand of communities for improved services, and to involve these communities in the development and management of a number of services,” explains Chaussade. It’s a bottom-up approach to development that, by necessity, must involve a large proportion of households in order to be profitable, establish mutual confidence between the water company and the community, and that encourages the people to become responsible for the services in order to guarantee the sustainability of the operation and limit the operating costs. This will make the service more affordable for low-income families.

“Water and sanitation are the starting point for local development operations, which can be bolstered by additional actions carried out in-house, or with NGOs, such as health and environmental education, the construction of bathrooms, providing micro-credits, vocational training, and so on,” says Chaussade.

But despite having a truly international presence, the European Union is the home and heart of Suez Environment, and the company has a strong position in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Benelux, Scandinavia and the UK. Revenues in its European markets represent 78 percent of Suez Environment’s total revenues, and Chaussade describes the European water markets as buoyant, both from a technological standpoint and in terms of the renewal of contracts and partnerships that are already in place – in fact, he is keen to stress that Europe still offers plenty of room for expansion.. “Europe is still a priority and strategic area for us in terms of development, and there are numerous opportunities for us in this market,” he remarks. “We want to reinforce our position in Europe through strong partnerships with Italy or Spain.”

The Central and Eastern region in Europe is also a focus area for Chaussade and his team. The water and waste markets in this region are progressively meeting the environmental standards signed into law by the European Commission, and Chaussade feels that this offers new opportunities for the company. “We already have a presence in the water sector within countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary. These countries have high growth potential, both in terms of construction and modernisation of infrastructures in the water and waste fields,” he predicts.

Future projects
In terms of current areas of focus, Chaussade is particularly excited by the methanisation unit that Suez Environment is building for the Montpelier Agglomération. The leading-edge unit will be capable of transforming domestic waste into green energy and will be “part of the world’s most exemplary biological waste treatment facilities”. With a treatment capacity of 203,000 tons per year, the unit will be equipped with an innovative optical sorting system developed in Sweden, which makes it possible to separate the two types of waste collected simultaneously from households in different coloured bags. This system reduces collection costs and simplifies the sorting operation for users. The unit will be able to transform the organic fraction of the waste into compost and biogas. The biogas will produce electrical or thermal energy equivalent to 30,000MWh of electricity and supply nearly 25,000 people.

In addition to this, the company is also currently building a desalination plant in Barcelona. With a capacity of 200,000 m3/day, it will become the largest seawater desalination plant in Europe, supplying drinking water to almost 1.3 million residents in the Barcelona region.

Looking ahead, Chaussade maintains that the European water and waste markets still present many opportunities for the company and that it will continue to focus efforts on these areas. “Since each territory has its own special characteristics and each population its own particular needs, Suez Environment should be ready to put forward solutions for their future,” concludes Chaussade. “It is our mission as a public service and our obligation as a responsible enterprise that are at stake.”

Key areas of sustainability

•  Energy savings (rational energy use and energy efficiency)
•  Development of renewable energy
• Optimising water resources (in compliance with European water treatment standards, wastewater reuse etc)
•  Developments in waste recycling

Three possible routes for waste-to-energy success

• Composting, or the formation of manure by the fermentation of the mixture of organic waste with minerals. Five million tons of waste are treated this way each year
• The spreading of sludge from urban or industrial sewage plants for agricultural purposes. Five to six million tons of waste are treated this way each year
• Methanisation, where biogas is produced by waste decomposition. 0.2 million tons of waste are treated this way each year

Facts and figures
Suez Environment’s European water and wastewater management in numbers.
1211 drinking water production units managed
1577 wastewater treatment plants managed
1.5 billion m3 of drinking water delivered to customers
1.1. billion m3 of wastewater treated
149,000 km of drinking water distribution network
59,500 km of wastewater network

FACTOID
By 2050, 40 percent of the world population will be suffering from water stress.