For municipal and government services, delegated management refers to a specific type of contract in which the public authorities delegate the management of certain services to a private enterprise or consortium. This is not to be confused with privatization.

The precise form in which these services are contracted out varies from country to country and, indeed, from contract to contract. Generally, they are known as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), with a specific variant in the United Kingdom known as Private Finance Initiatives (PFI).

• Municipal Partnerships

Many industrial and business corporations, meanwhile, are increasingly outsourcing non-core activities such as process water production and residual water treatment, facilities management, utilities (energy, cooling and heating), etc.

Through the provision of outsourced services, Veolia Environnement is helping some of the world's foremost manufacturing, oil and chemical firms as well as smaller local companies to focus on their core businesses and improve their bottom line.

• Industrial services