Veolia’s recycling and waste recovery business in France has been awarded a nine-year contract worth €95 million to operate and improve the Reims waste to energy plant. Treating the 60,000 metric tons of final waste generated each year by the Greater Reims population of 300,0000, this public service delegation contract maintains the target of continuously improving the site’s energy performance. This will be increased to 65% after works have been completed.
As part of the contract’s renewal, €10 million will be devoted to improving the facility’s reliability and its energy efficiency resulting in an overall improvement to the waste to energy plant’s total energy performance. As well as producing heat energy, a new turbo-alternator will be installed to generate more than 12,000 MWh of recovered electricity, equivalent consumption of more than 5,000 people.
The work will also reduce the site’s energy consumption and guarantee its availability for supply to the CroixRouge neighbourhood’s district heating network. The facility will comply with the major requirements of France’s Energy Transition Law.
Carried out by VINCI in conjunction with Reims architects LINGAT, the work will qualify for the “Greater Sustainable Reims” label. Given all the improvements that will be made to the waste to energy plant, it will become a green energy plant in its own right, thereby reducing Greater Reims’ TGAP (French tax on polluting activities) and delivering savings estimated at €3.1 million.
With four certifications – ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment), OHSAS 18001 (Safety) and ISO 50001 (Energy efficiency) – the waste to energy plant is an example of environmental excellence, which benefits, for example, from an efficient flue gas treatment system guaranteeing discharge levels below the most stringent European standards. Dioxins and dust will be 40% below the European threshold. The studies conducted by the local observatory for air-quality monitoring (ATMO) have revealed that the facility’s emissions will have no impact on the environment.
As a major industrial contributor to the region, the site is also committed to creating an educational pathway in order to boost residents’ awareness of the importance of sorting, recycling and waste recovery and waste to energy. A series of innovative, entertaining and hands-on workshops will help teach the local population the reflexes required to reduce their waste production and their environmental footprint.
At the same time, several measures will be implemented in association with Reims Champagne-Ardenne University aimed at encouraging local biodiversity. These will include the creation of a planted discharge area irrigated with stormwater where fauna and flora will make the site additionally attractive. A partnership has also been established with the LPO (French ornithological society) to install a nesting ledge for the Peregrine falcon on the energy recovery plant’s flue gas stack.
With over 163,000 employees worldwide, the Veolia Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions that contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. In 2016, the company supplied 100 million people with drinking water and 61 million people with wastewater service, produced 54 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 30 million metric tonnes of waste into new materials and energy.