Veolia North America Issues Annual Sustainability Report Detailing Regional Performance

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Veolia North America (VNA) released its annual Sustainability Report, featuring the company’s regional performance on a wide range of environmental, social and governance goals, as well as work to help its customers meet their environmental goals.

During the reporting year, VNA made significant progress toward its environmental and social targets, and announced a new GreenUp strategy which will guide the company’s progress in the years ahead. Globally, Veolia’s climate ambitions were recently validated by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) and Moodys. The company’s sustainability programs have been recognized by external rating agencies including CDP, S&P Global, ISS and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

Some of the highlights shared in the 2024 VNA Sustainability Report include:

Helping Cities and Industry Reach their Environmental Goals

VNA helped customers avoid 430,000 tons of Scope 4 greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of planting more than 7.1 million trees. The company processed 237 billion gallons of drinking water, treated 368 billion gallons of wastewater and processed 1.8 million tons of hazardous waste.

Building Rigor in Climate Reporting 

In this report, VNA sets its Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions baseline for the region, and outlines its decarbonization roadmap. The company also employs digital energy management tools at 28 of its largest sites to track and manage GHG emissions in real time.

Promoting Biodiversity and Water Conservation

The company met its target of achieving 80 percent implementation of biodiversity programs at 10 priority sites in the U.S. The report also describes how Veolia is improving the resilience of drought-prone communities through water reuse and conservation.

Addressing the PFAS Challenge

As public and regulatory awareness of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) continues to increase, VNA advanced its leadership, treating a cumulative 2.1 billion gallons of drinking water for regulated PFAS, and reaching no detectable levels of regulated PFAS chemicals at 30 U.S. sites.

Developing the Environmental Leaders of the Future

Environmental and sustainability leadership has become one of the most important skill sets of the 21st century, and studies have identified a “green skills gap” in the U.S. workforce. The report details efforts to enhance career training for VNA employees, invest in community workforce development, and build capacity for diverse suppliers to ensure that careers in environmental services are equitable and available to everyone.

Fred Van Heems, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia North America said: “This is an exciting time to work at Veolia North America, as we report our progress on achieving our 2023 sustainability goals, and embark on an even more ambitious journey toward the company’s 2024–2027 GreenUp strategy. We are energized by our mission to help our customers and society progress toward a more sustainable future.”

Dave Ross, Chief Sustainability Officer of Veolia North America said: “As part of the world’s leading environmental services company, we support sustainable development for cities and industries, while addressing the greatest environmental and social challenges of our time. In this year’s report we took a material leap forward in reporting our performance across five multifaceted performance categories. We made this conscious choice to give our stakeholders a more holistic view of our progress in the areas of people, planet and principles and to align with the Veolia Group’s global reporting.”

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com