Veolia wins a major contract to make one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in France an environmental standard-setter

Greater Lyon has entrusted Veolia, long active in the region, with a significant contract for the modernization and management of the Saint Fons wastewater treatment plant, one of the largest in France. This 6-year contract represents a total value of 100 million euros.

In operation for nearly fifty years, the plant treats the wastewater of all inhabitants of the left bank of the Rhône river, as well as some of the region’s industrial groups, equivalent to one million inhabitants. Veolia was chosen to address several issues: to regain compliance on biological treatment, improve the state of the assets, and organize the management of heavy rainfalls which can lead to water pollution, all in close cooperation with local authorities. Greater Lyon also aims to make this site a benchmark of standards in terms of operational efficiency, energy and environmental performance.  

Veolia has mobilized all its areas of expertise to implement an integrated offer that meets these goals at the best value for money: 

• Thanks to more efficient digitized management, Veolia will enable the site to reduce its electricity consumption by 15% and its water consumption by 10%.
• The site’s carbon footprint will be significantly reduced, as 90% of its energy consumption will be covered by decarbonizing energy produced from Veolia’s energy recovery facilities. The recovery of waste heat from incinerators will also produce 6% of the site’s electricity needs, thus replacing fossil fuels. 
• Veolia will draw on its technical innovation capabilities to face emerging pollutants such as PFAS, particularly in sewage sludge, and prepare the region for future regulatory changes.
• Veolia will also support Greater Lyon in its soil return strategy, with a future pooling of sludge treatment by methanization at the neighboring wastewater treatment plant. 

"With our long-time presence in the region, we are proud to have been chosen by the Lyon metropolitan area to make Saint Fons wastewater treatment plant a true environmental leader. Thanks to more efficient management and the combination of our various businesses, we were able to offer a solution with the best value for money that combines the ecological and economic performances of the site by significantly reducing its carbon footprint and its consumption of raw materials. The ecological transformation of Saint Fons demonstrates our ability to provide concrete solutions to build a sustainable future for and with local regions, perfectly in line with our GreenUp strategic plan", says Jean-François Nogrette, Senior Executive Vice President, France & Special Waste Europe 

ABOUT VEOLIA

Veolia's ambition is to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. With nearly 218,000 employees on five continents, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for managing water, waste and energy that help to radically change the world. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia contributes to developing access to resources, preserving available resources and renewing them. In 2023, the Veolia group served 113 million people with drinking water and 103 million with wastewater services, produced 42 terawatt-hours of energy and recovered 63 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) generated consolidated sales of €45.3 billion in 2023.