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Company vouches to support sustainable progress in China

By Xiong Guang'an (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-30 07:53

The Shanghai Expo provides not only a chance for China to show off to the world but also is an opportunity for many businesses, including Veolia Environnement, to promote their messages, according to Veolia CEO Antoine Frerot.

The Expo site is within Shanghai's Pudong New Area where Veolia, as part of a 50-year joint venture, supplies drinking water and treats waste for the 2 million inhabitants.

"It is a good opportunity for Veolia to display its quality service and company image to the world", said Frerot.

He said that China is no longer a world factory. Rather, China is a world laboratory.

Through the Expo, Veolia with its innovative capabilities will try to attract potential Chinese partners in water and waste management, said the CEO.

Environmental leader

With 310,000 employees, Veolia has operations around the globe and provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary segments: water management, waste management, energy management and passenger transportation.

It entered the Chinese market in 1992 and has since expanded to over 30 cities on the Chinese mainland.

Last year, its revenue in China reached 5 percent of the company's total worldwide.

As a specialist in environmental protection, Frerot said that it is important to develop a low-carbon industry, but it is even more important to save and optimize energy.

People should always try to avoid wasting energy.

Veolia uses biomass technology, a renewable energy source, and cogeneration, one of the most common forms of energy recycling.

With China's ambitious plan to promote electric vehicles for public transport in the country, Veolia can provide complementary services for battery replacement and recycling.

"We hope to cooperate with Chinese partners in this area," said the CEO, adding that China is developing rapidly in this area and is in pace with the world's progress.

"The issue of environmental protection is not that of a single nation. It is a question for the whole world", he said.

As people's demand and consumption overtakes supply from nature, damage to the environment occurs. To solve this problem, Frerot believes that on the one hand, government willingness to protect the environment and special technologies are needed. On the other hand, people should take care not to over consume and should look for more substitute resources.

For example, he said, Veolia has conducted research in the use of seawater and recycling of raw materials. Its technology in waste treatment aims at recycling and reusing waste material.

Knowing China

Veolia has been operating in China for more than 15 years. "So we understand China's needs and the technologies we can provide," said Frerot.

"We will continue to learn more about Chinese culture and the way of life here so that we can provide technologies specifically for China," he added.

"We need a long-term strategy for expanding in the Chinese market," he said.

To this end, Veolia will teach its Chinese employees major techniques in environmental protection services through training for both office staff and factory workers.

"During the past years, Veolia's major Chinese partners are local governments and financial institutions," Frerot said. "We are now looking for more industrial partners."

Since the 1990s, Veolia Environnement has been devoted to helping China improve its environmental issues. It has invested more than $2 billion in China and set up 68 projects in the fields of waste treatment, water management - in both drinking water and sewage treatment - energy and public transport projects in the 41 cities in China.

Veolia Environnement China is also the largest waste management enterprise in Asia. Its business has taken root in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Foshan, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Xi'an, Jiujiang as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The company is active in helping China realize sustainable development. For instance, in the fourth phase of the Shanghai Laogang landfill project, the original capacity was designed to be 20 million tons useful for 20 years. With technology from Veolia, the project is capable of filling 80 million tons of waste and can be used for 50 years.

Veolia has also worked with many universities in China. It provides a scholarship on environment protection for outstanding students at Shanghai Tongji University to study in France. Tsinghua University (Environmental Protection Department)-Veolia Environment Advanced Technology Center is a research and development institution jointly set up by the university and the company in April this year. It conducts research on advanced technologies and arranges academic seminars on the key environmental issues affecting China and the world.

Veolia Environnement China and the China Society for the Promotion of Ecological Ethics jointly launch the Environmental Protection Guard program in Baotou.

(China Daily 04/30/2010 page12)