Anticipate and innovate

Veolia Environnement Research & Innovation (VERI) and Veolia Innovation Accelerator (VIA)

Robust innovation is very important to us and, with our international presence, we can bring proven concepts from around the world to provide deliverable and unique services to our customers.

VERI utilises a dedicated team of 450 multi-disciplinary engineers and scientists working on innovations in all fields of waste, water and energy management – from on-board weighing and new vehicle fuel technologies, such as biogas, hybrid and dual-fuel vehicles, to innovations in safer and better sorting and recycling.

In addition to the above, the VIA is a unique approach to deploying clean technologies, with the objective of accelerating our innovation capacity by partnering with the best start-ups and investors across the international 'cleantech' sector. Through this programme, we have formalised processes and tools to be able to engage
start-up organisations in the most effective way.

Whitbread landfill diversion

Whitbread’s landfill diversion from its hotel and restaurant estate increased dramatically from 49% in 2009 to 67% by February 2011. Whitbread has set an overall objective to achieve 80% landfill diversion by February 2012, substantially reducing carbon emissions and reflecting customer preferences.

The diversion of food waste on this scale to appropriate treatment facilities is a first for the hospitality industry. With the aid of our Greenhouse Gas Tracker, the following three-tiered strategy has been developed to help Whitbread meet its target:

• A food waste recycling service has been rolled out to over 70% of the estate that generates food waste. This will be increased to 100% throughout 2011.
• Veolia has introduced a mixed recyclates service at 366 sites, which combines paper, card, plastic and tins. This will be available to every site by the end of 2011.
• Diversion of residual waste to Energy Recovery Facilities from 30% of the Whitbread estate is in place, to generate electricity for the National Grid. This will be increased to 50% by the end of 2011.

Food waste is a valuable resource and can be diverted from landfill to help make a positive contribution to the environment and help the UK’s drive for increased renewable energy sources.

North Sea decommissioning

We have secured a project to decommission eight redundant gas platform structures from the Southern sector of the North Sea. This project is being undertaken at a facility at Wallsend on Tyneside. The project encompasses eight steel jacket structures, which were the legs of the platforms standing in 30 metres of water, and the topside structures comprising accommodation and gas processing facilities.

The jackets and topsides are from the Indefatigable gas field operated by Shell U.K. Limited in the UK sector of the Southern North Sea, which is 75 nautical miles offshore and 173 nautical miles from Wallsend. We plan to deal with eight consignments delivered to shore via sea-barges over a five-month period.

Our offshore decommissioning activities are undertaken with our alliance partner, Peterson SBS, which is responsible for the marine management and load-in element of the project. We will dismantle and re-process 10,000 tonnes of metal with a recycling target of 97%.

‘Seagreen’ - marine waste

In a move to strengthen our position in the expanding marine wastes services sector, we launched the new ‘Seagreen’ barge, a 560-tonne marine support barge, in June 2010. Based in Marchwood on Southampton Water, the vessel represents a £2 million investment in the cruise and commercial shipping market based at Southampton and other ports along the South Coast.

Towards the end of 2010, ‘Seagreen’ prevented 330 truck movements and 20,000 road miles for Portsmouth waste alone.

BatteryBack scheme

 

New legislation has seen the diversion of batteries from landfill in order to encourage material recovery and battery recycling. 

BatteryBack Plc is the leading UK portable battery compliance scheme and a Veolia Environmental Services joint venture organisation. It fulfils the battery recycling obligations of its members and works in partnership with retailers, businesses, local authorities, the Ministry of Defence and schools to recycle batteries, to maximise material recovery and contribute to the UK’s battery recycling targets. In 2010, the scheme had more than 14,000 battery recycling collection containers throughout the UK and was responsible for collecting over 1,500 tonnes of batteries – representing approximately 50% of all batteries collected in the UK in 2009. BatteryBack is developing an education programme for school children about the importance of battery recycling, coupled with an incentive scheme to maximise battery collection.

Khush Marolia, Duracell’s Global Sustainability Manager, said: “Duracell sees its relationship with BatteryBack as an opportunity to bring Procter & Gamble’s sustainability vision into the field of collecting and recycling spent batteries. In doing so, we are moving from a standpoint of regulatory compliance to a model of compliance causing the least burden on the environment. Our goal is to demonstrate that battery collection and recycling can be net positive for the environment compared to landfill, and then to maximise that benefit as far as possible.” 

Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) compliance

The Veolia WEEE Compliance Scheme supports the role of social organisations within the WEEE Regulations, as they provide valuable services to the community while meeting high recycling standards. The scheme has achieved a reuse rate of 12.6% in 2010, exceeding the European Union's proposed target of 5%. The scheme complements our commitment to the environment though the promotion of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible WEEE disposal.

One of the largest in the UK, our WEEE Compliance Scheme has seen the collection of more than 100,000 tonnes of WEEE since the Regulations began in July 2007. The scheme manages WEEE from 17 Local Authorities and we work with large commercial and industrial customers, as well as the charitable and voluntary sector, to provide effective and sustainable compliance and recycling solutions.

Reusable refrigeration equipment taken by the general public to our Nottinghamshire Recycling Centres is given to a local charity, Family First. These units are placed in low-income housing projects that benefit local families. Some of these items are also placed in short-notice emergency situations, such as refugee accommodation and the rehousing of victims of domestic violence. 

Garston Combined Heat & Power (CHP)

In June 2008, Veolia acquired a solvent recovery plant at Stalbridge, Garston, on Merseyside. The facility processes over 21,000 tonnes of solvents from the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors each year. Approximately 68% of the solvents received by the site are recovered back to high-grade products and sold to the industry. The remaining 32% of residues from the process are currently disposed of at a suitably authorised facility without energy recovery. The process is energy intensive and the site currently consumes 2.5 million cubic metres of natural gas each year, to raise steam which powers the distillation.

In 2010, we proposed a pioneering £3.5 million investment in Combined Heat and Power at our Garston solvents recovery plant. The investment will reduce gas fuel consumption by 90%, saving up to 5,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. This will also provide the plant with its own source of electricity.

Gas-fuelled refuse collection vehicles

We have been working with Sheffield City Council to help it lead the way for low-carbon transport in the city.
A fleet of 10 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles was trialled and aims to significantly reduce the amount of CO₂  that Sheffield releases. A CNG vehicle releases 20% less CO₂  than any other vehicle using traditional fossil-based fuels – reducing air pollution.

Innovating and utilising new technologies that cut carbon emissions is key to our business and relationships with our clients, which is why we are proud to be working with Sheffield to help it reach its target to become
a greener city.

To find out more, visit: www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk/sheffield/

Incentivised recycling

With the need for a low-carbon economy, recycling is increasingly important. In partnership with RecycleBank, we’ve implemented positive incentive recycling schemes in two UK boroughs. The scheme rewards residents
for recycling with vouchers for money off local and national goods and services. In turn, this allows Local Authorities to reap the benefits of increased recycling and lower disposal costs. It also supports residents and the local economy and incentivises positive behaviours.

This is an example of creating tangible value through partnerships and leadership. With a sample of around 60,000 households in one UK borough, recycling increased by 35% through this scheme. It is now being trialled in estates – another UK first – in the London Borough of Lambeth.

Our Eureka Scheme

Our 'Eureka' project goes from strength to strength and 2010, again, proves to us that we don’t have to look far for winning ideas. 'Eureka' is a way for our staff to suggest improvements to the business – and have their ideas properly considered. One such winning scheme that has now been implemented reuses old mobile phone handsets and reconfigures them into personal safety alarms, supporting individuals facing violence and providing them with direct access to the 999 emergency services, and dedicated crisis support.