« Interdependence between Veolia Environnement and biodiversity »
The "Orée" association and the Foundation for the Research on the Biodiversity published a guide entitled "« Interdependence between Veolia Environnement and biodiversity » to facilitate the consideration of the biodiversity within companies. On this occasion, Veolia presents its interactions with biodiversity.
Criteria in direct relation to the living world
Dependence on raw materials from the living world
The dependence on organic raw materials by the four divisions of Veolia Environnement varies considerably. Veolia Water uses large quantities of bacterial biomass for the treatment of wastewater in a similar manner to Veolia Environmental Services which uses it for land-filling or waste composting. Dalkia illustrates this dependence to a lesser degree with 97 of its installations that transform biomass into energy. It is inexistent for Veolia Transport.
Nevertheless, regardless of the activity, the dependence on fossil energy is very significant, primarily at Veolia Energy - Dalkia for heat production.
Dependence on services and technologies of the living world
Ecologic management of a delegated space
The exemplary case of Crépieux - Charmy (France)
The durability of the catchment field of Crépieux - Charmy, which supplies drinking water for almost the entire town, is an essential issue for all the inhabitants of Lyon.
The dependence on the ecological services concerns the use of biomass and water remediation (water self-purification service; the use of microorganisms is like a form of biotechnology).
Although water and waste treatment is integrated into the biogeochemical cycles, many uncertainties and the absence of standardized tools pose problems in establishing the connection between the development of the company's activities and those of the ecosystem-based services.
Soil remediation and the rehabilitation of deteriorated sites constitute one of the Company's strong sectors of action for the benefit of ecological services.
Although biomimetism is not always perceived as such by the employees, it can be illustrated from multiple angles: agronomic recycling by compost spreading is inspired by the recycling phase of organic material and may concern sludge produced by wastewater treatment plants, green waste or even the target fermenting proportion of residual household refuse.
The composting subsidiaries of Veolia Environmental Services allow their disposal of a considerable quantity of organic material meant for burial in landfills and to contribute to the return of organic material to the soil (enrichment), which will be able to reintegrate the biogeochemical cycles. As for material recovery, it allows the re-use of many recyclable materials.
It is an alternative to land-filling or incineration. Finally, the waste-to-energy subsidiaries transform certain by-products such as used oils or solid recovered fuels into heat energy that can be used in situ.
Managing the changes, health and complexities of ecosystems
Meteorological changes can influence the demand for water and energy. On the other hand changes in the bio-physical-chemical parameters of ecosystems are occasionally the cause of additional costs, like management of algal blooms in the case of Veolia Water. The quality of aquatic environments is closely monitored by this subsidiary for which good knowledge of the ecosystems in which it works is essential in order to offer appropriate treatment measures.
The essential role of Veolia's businesses increases with the degree of deterioration in environments. The activities concerned with treatment must reconcile quantity and quality by controlling very significant flux and the residual impact on environments.
Many ecological complexes intervene in the condition of soil and water: these are real opportunities for R&D in terms of processes and tools for restoring ecosystems.
Criteria related to current markets
The Company's revenue is not directly related to biodiversity but the wastewater and waste treatment activities are partly concerned with the treatment of organic materials. Besides the biomass that is energetically recovered at a relatively low cost and fossil energy for which thecosthas greatly increased in the last few years, the work of bacteria in the treatment of wastewater and waste is'free'. Moreover, many organisms evolve in unison with the activities of Veolia Water and Veolia Environmental Services, especially the avifauna that benefit from the wastewater treatment plants. At present, biodiversity as such does not correspond to a marketing asset.
On the other hand the change in customers' expectations (public procurement and industrial contracts) towards more urban biodiversity and in terms of the management of water bodies could change the conditions.
Criteria related to the impacts on biodiversity
Most of the acquired land areas are similar to long term assets, like factories or landfills, which may cause significant changes in the landscape, that is the reason why the problem of the integration of structures into the surrounding environment is a part of the corporate culture. By reducing the pollution loads that weight on environments and by rehabilitating contaminated areas, Veolia Environment contributes positively to the health of ecosystems and the consumers' quality of life. On the other hand, for certain activities monitoring of the secondary impacts on ecosystems is required, such as residual pollution loads and greenhouse gas emissions by transportation. Evaluation of the impacts on the distribution of species and the splitting up of habitats are currently the focus of great attention with the introduction of a geographic information system that determines the location of the main installations in relation to the zones of ecological interest.
Criteria for compensating impacts
Regulated or voluntary compensation which varies according to the pertinent laws in force within each country, concerns only installations with large amounts of acquired land located in rural areas or areas with low levels of urbanization (landfills for exemple).
The experiences are recent and not centralized for the moment. Through its foundation, Veolia finances many environmental projects in France and abroad. A new program was just launched that contributes to sustainable development in the Haiphong bay in Vietnam: it concerns the preservation of biodiversity in the Red River estuary and allows the development of fishing, aquaculture and tourism.
Criteria for the organizations's strategies
The use of living organisms is essential for the treatment activities of Veolia Water and Veolia Environmental Services and consideration of the impacts of its installations and activities on biodiversity is a challenge that the Company meet since 2004. Its image is partially dependent on this, especially in light of the pressure by stakeholders who are trying to respond to the increasing erosion of the diversity of living organisms on a planetary level. The company is working with various academic and institutional partners to improve its knowledge and practices through research programs on the interactions between its activities and the functioning of ecosystems. Biodiversity is not only perceived as a risk.
If its recognition generates increases in the short term, capital expenditures and investments can lead to increased competiveness in the medium and long term in the setting of changing markets. This also leads to new services, such as the acquisition of Organica in 2007, a company that treats effluents with the use of plants. Internally, the environmental performance division is endeavoring to make a record of good practices through information gathered from questionnaires that were sent to line personnel. A doctorial thesis is being conducted in close collaboration with the workgroup Orée: it is based on the economic tools that must be mobilized in order to integrate biodiversity into company strategies.
This contributes to making biodiversity an issue in its own right for the development of a corporate culture based on sustainable development.
