Veolia Mobilizes 34 International Stakeholders to Accelerate Water Reuse
Veolia has established a Stakeholder Assembly comprising 34 international participants (economists, industrialists, insurers, public authorities) to promote water reuse in response to resource scarcity. The group has published a white paper proposing ten concrete measures, including the creation of an open-source tool to quantify the cost of water absence for public and financial decision-makers.
A Structured Response to the Anticipated Water Shortage by 2030
Veolia is positioned in a context of increasing tension over water resources. According to the group, global demand for fresh water is expected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030. Currently, only 8% of global water is reused, a rate that the group considers insufficient given the stakes of industrial and environmental security. Anne Le Guennec, Director of Water Technologies at Veolia, advocates treating water as a renewable resource rather than following a linear model, enabling industries and communities to combine fresh and recycled water to meet their critical needs.
Ten Proposals to Overcome Barriers to Reuse
The Stakeholder Assembly has formulated a series of recommendations aimed at overcoming psychological, financial, and regulatory barriers to the deployment of reuse. One of the recommendations includes the creation, by the end of 2026, of an open-source tool that calculates the economic cost of water absence, developed in collaboration with water economist Esther Crauser-Delbourg, Susan Doering (Aon Insurance), and Laurie Chesné (Natixis CIB). The collective also calls for the establishment of a regular United Nations conference dedicated to water, similar to the summits on biodiversity and climate, to keep the issue at the forefront of international priorities.
Facilities Deployed Across Europe and Worldwide
Veolia discusses over twenty-five years of experience in large-scale water reuse, particularly in Spain, Namibia, the Middle East, and Chile. The group's ReutBox solution, deployed in France since 2022, consists of compact and mobile units that allow sewage treatment plants to operate in a closed loop, producing recycled water for irrigation, urban cleaning, or watering green spaces. More than fifty sewage treatment plants in France use or are scheduled to receive this technology. In the south of the country, the city of Narbonne hosts an advanced facility providing treated wastewater for vineyard irrigation. Near Argelès, the largest French water reuse facility is soon to supply irrigation for local crops.
