Waste prevention, recycling and recovery, to create a more circular future

Traditionally based on collection volumes, the waste treatment sector now needs to adapt in order to address challenges such as climate change, the energy crisis and the scarcity of resources. We need to get the full value out of industrial and household waste and pave the way for new solutions.

Our activities are changing and adapting towards a circular economy model, supporting economic growth by means of increased materials recycling, energy recovery and solutions that aim to protect the planet’s limited resources. At SUEZ, it is our firm belief that we will achieve this transition by working together and prioritising our efforts and innovations. 

Decarbonising industry:  
Reduce industrial group’s carbon footprint by developing more sustainable and efficient waste management and treatment solutions. 

• 6.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent were avoided by our customers in 2023 
• 79% of emissions avoided by our customers relate to use of recycled materials 

 

Rolling out preventive measures on a regional basis: 
Helping city councils and their users to reuse, in order to reduce production of household waste in local regions. 

• Thanks to the performance contract in place since 2022, Greater Montauban has already reduced its bulky items by 31%, green waste by 17% and household refuse by 7%. 
• In partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, we opened the largest reuse depot in the United Kingdom, where more than 234,000 items have already been sold since 2021. 

 

Producing recycled materials:  
Find innovative ways of recycling and reusing materials (packaging, paper/card, etc.) and rare metals in order to minimise reliance on non-renewable resources: 

• We produced 2.7 million tonnes of secondary raw materials in 2023. 

 

Plastic recycling:  
Develop more efficient and sustainable sorting and recycling technologies and processes in order to speed up the creation of a plastics circular economy. 

• We produce over 80,000 tonnes of plastic each year for use in food, farming and industry. 
  

 

Energy generation 
Capitalise on the potential of waste to support the energy transition and encourage generation of energy for our customers and users. 

• We generate 7.3 terawatt-hours of energy each year worldwide. 
• In Europe, we are already able to supply electricity to more than 1.5 million people thanks to energy recovery from household waste. 
• With our biogas production, we can supply the equivalent of 400,000 people with gas. 

 

Supporting sustainable mobility:  
Offer more environmentally friendly technologies, circular loops and cleaner fuels, thereby supporting the transition. 

• We are starting to recycle strategic materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium from electric vehicle batteries.  
• Thanks to our subsidiary Boone Comenor Metalimpex (BCM), we can draw on 125 years of expertise in recycling ferrous and non-ferrous metals generated during the automotive production process. 
• In June 2024, with SMITDUVM, SIPEnR and Banque des Territoires, we started construction of the biggest renewable hydrogen production and distribution plant in France. The plant will be able to produce 1 tonne of hydrogen a day from energy recovered from waste.

We benefit from first-rate teams and facilities in France and worldwide, supporting our ability to innovate. 

Thanks to the expertise of our 1,100 experts, our 1,700 patents and our 10 research centres, we will double the number of waste projects between 2022 and 2027. 
 
Our engineering and construction expertise means we are able to design new infrastructures and plants with lower greenhouse gas emissions and a reduced environmental impact, generating more resources for local regions. 
 
We use technology and AI to offer new solutions and optimise infrastructure and process performance in waste collection, sorting, treatment, recycling and recovery, and even to encourage sustainable practices thanks to digital tools to help users. 
 
With partners such as Airex Energie, we have adopted an open innovation approach, working together to come up with solutions for our customers. 
 
Finally, we work with sociologists and behavioural economics experts and support behavioural innovation to help users do more to recycle their waste.  

We put the passion and commitment of our team at the service of our customers around the world to enable them to provide access to waste services, with resilient and innovative solutions, to create value over the entire lifecycle of their assets and services, and to drive the ecological transition, together with their end-users.

 

Our value proposition:

• To provide access to waste services, with resilient and innovative solutions
• To create value over the entire lifecycle of waste assets and services.
• To drive the ecological transition, together with their end-users. 

In addition to our essential activities of waste collection, sorting and treatment, we advise you on how to manage your waste and are working on developing an ambitious and intelligent digital strategy to address the challenge of creating a more circular economy with our customers. We are also stepping up our efforts in terms of prevention in order to reduce the volumes of waste produced.

To address the issue of climate change, we have taken action to roll out mature recycling and treatment solutions for the various waste materials or develop new solutions. We convert non-recyclable waste into local and renewable energy. In doing so, we are pushing the boundaries to create and exploit the value contained in every piece of waste, including the most complex.

In addition to new technologies, we are recognised for our expertise in behavioural, social and contractual innovation, supporting and accelerating the shift towards more environmentally friendly habits and more responsible behaviours in order to limit our impact on the environment. In terms of technologies, we are exploring technologies for capturing, storing and using CO₂, which will play a key role in achieving carbon neutrality.

• Prevention and reuse 
• Collection and logistics 
• Sorting and pretreatment 
• Recycling, recovery and sale 
• Urban and property sanitation  
• Consulting and engineering services 
• Digital solutions 
  
• Control 

• Collection and logistics 
• Recycling and recovery
• Consulting and engineering services 
• Digital solutions 

Smart waste management

Environmentally friendly habits