Management of our own impacts and consistency with regard to our activities

• industrial facilities for which the Group controls investment;
• industrial facilities for which the Group does not control investment and which require cooperation with the delegating authority;
• tertiary sites, functional and administrative centers for which the Group is fully responsible.

Industrial facilities are integrated into the EMS, which makes it possible to control and reduce the impact of the Group's activities on the environment through action plans.

Tertiary sites are not included in the EMS at the moment, but an estimate of their impacts gives the following values :

• consumption of water, 1 million cubic meters;
• consumption of energy, 325,000 MWh;
• production of waste, 21,000 metric tons;
• CO2 emissions, 0.1 million metric tons.

A more detailed analysis of the nature of the impacts of all the Group's sites (particularly through mapping) will be made within the framework of a global action plan with associated research on the Group's responsibilities.

The Group's commitments

Veolia Environnement's head office has undertaken an approach to improve its purchases of paper (reports, internal publications, brochures, etc.) by setting up a reference list of printers which includes sustainable development criteria.
The Group will only purchase paper from IMPRIM'VERT labeled suppliers, guaranteeing absolute elimination of toxic products, and security of product and hazardous waste storage sites.
The Group also makes a commitment to print documents for internal and external communication purposes (and in minimum numbers) using only paper derived from sustainably managed forests (FSC).

The CO2 emissions reduction policy has already improved the environmental and economic performance of 28,000 vehicles in France. Since 2006, renewal of the fleet has had a positive effect on the reduction of CO2 emissions through the use of a new vehicle selection table.
The average emissions of the 6,000 new vehicles that came into service in 2007, all categories combined, was 145.6 g
of CO2/km, in other words 8.9% less than vehicles bought in 2005 before this policy was set up.

The Group has made a commitment to reduce total emissions from its entire fleet by 10% from 2006 levels by 2010.

Best practice sites

Veolia Environmental Services has set up a system for washing collection points for glass and paper in Nancy, France, which recovers wastewater and filters it before carrying it to the treatment plant.

Veolia Transport uses recycled water for washing 25% of its fleet of vehicles, which represents more than 8,200 public transportation vehicles.

In Bordeaux, France, Veolia Transport has developed biological fountains for cleaning mechanical parts, thus limiting emissions of liquid and gas releases into the environment and eliminating the use of detergents.

Veolia Environnement's head office has produced a program to increase the awareness of employees of eco-actions. Energy saving measures have been set up based upon the improved lighting (installation of low energy bulbs, movement detectors in washrooms, time programming in some rooms). Electricity consumption was thus 33% lower in 2007 than in 2005.

In France, Veolia Transport has provided manually rechargeable standalone torches using "low voltage" bulbs for use by bus drivers.

Veolia Water has put five hybrid vehicles into circulation in Agen, France, to reduce polluting emissions and achieve fuel savings.
Veolia Water is developing a travel plan in the United Kingdom, to encourage car sharing between its employees.

In China, Veolia Water has joined the Planet Partners program developed by its computer supplier in partnership with a local NGO that encourages responsible recycling and is increasing the awareness of its local teams about the benefits of this practice.

In France,Veolia Energy-Dalkia has installed cardboard kits supplied by Veolia Environmental Services to collect small toxic waste following maintenance work.

Environmental training and increased awareness of sustainable development