Agence De l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency).

A fuel consisting wholly or partially of transformed biomass of plant or animal origin.

A gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas has a high methane content (50%) and therefore has considerable potential for producing heat and energy. In our business activity, biogas is produced in storage centres, fermentation tanks and sludge digesters in wastewater treatment plants. Biogas contributes to the greenhouse effect and is an odour nuisance and must therefore be collected. Once collected, it can be used as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels.

Designates any plant matter that can be recycled for energy production. Biomass can be e.g. wood, biogas or straw.

Used for accelerating the production of biogas. A bioreactor works by retrieving leachate and reinjecting it into waste mass. By supplying moisture and nutrients to the bacteria digesting the waste mass, a bioreactor accelerates the breakdown process, making it easier to recover the resulting methane for use in energy production. The recovery and recycling of the methane produced in a bioreactor brings economic as well as environmental benefits: it reduces emissions of greenhouse gases while providing a significant source of energy.

CHP designates the simultaneous production of electricity and heat by burning natural gas, oil products, coal, waste or biomass. The heat released during the production of electricity is recovered and used for heating buildings or as process heat in industry. CHP can therefore significantly improve the efficiency of the primary energy source to over 80% in some cases. When cold is produced too, the process in known as trigeneration or polygeneration.

A biological process in which the input of air accelerates the decomposition of organic waste to produce a compost. The reactions that occur during composting release heat that “cleans” the compost by eliminating the pathogenic organisms contained in the feedstock, i.e. the waste.

Systems comprising a central generating unit and a network of ducts to supply heating, hot water and air conditioning to public- and private-sector buildings such as schools, hospitals, offices and apartment blocks.

Collectively designates the catchment, conveyance and treatment of stormwater and wastewater in an urban area, industrial site or private land prior to its return to the environment. Also includes the elimination of the sludge resulting from treatment.

Normally designates domestic and urban wastewater (which is received by wastewater treatment plants) and, by extension, the wastewater produced by industrial processes.

Plant waste from gardening and the upkeep of parks, etc. A distinction is made between domestic green waste (i.e., from private gardens) and municipal green waste, which is produced by the activities of municipal parks and gardens services.

An allowance is the authorization to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent during a given period. Allowances are allocated to energy plant operators as part of the implementation of EU directives aimed at achieving the targets set by the Kyoto protocol.

Gases that absorb infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and return part of this radiation back to Earth, thereby retaining the heat in the atmosphere. The principal greenhouse gases produced by human activity are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), tropospheric ozone (O3), the fluorine gases (HFC, PFC, SF6) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
Greenhouse gas emissions are frequently measured in equivalent tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Waste that constitutes a pollution hazard or represents a health or environmental risk and must be suitably treated prior to disposal.

Waste produced by hospitals and the healthcare professions. Healthcare waste includes sharps waste, i.e. disposable materials used in cutting or puncturing the skin, which should never be disposed of in conventional waste bins.

The delegation to a single external service provider of one or several non-core activities previously carried out on an internal basis (water and energy management, transport, environmental protection, etc.). Some outsourcing contracts also include the transfer of company personnel to subsidiaries created by the service provider.

Waste that undergoes no significant physical, chemical or biological modification. Inert waste does not decompose, cannot be burned and produces no physical or chemical reaction. It is non-biodegradable and has no effect on other material with which it comes into contact, meaning it constitutes neither an environmental pollution risk nor a health hazard.

A facility in which waste is treated and stored in optimized safety conditions. Under European Union regulations three types of landfill are permitted:
- landfills that receive hazardous waste that has stabilized or become inert (in France, class 1 landfills);
- landfills that receive municipal or similar waste (class 2);
- landfills that receive solid household waste and non-hazardous industrial waste (class 3).

An operating mode for public services or services of general interest under the control of public authorities and benefiting residents who, in most cases, pay directly to the service provider for the service. The service provider is responsible for operating the service and, in some cases, making investments. VE’s municipal outsourcing contracts are primarily for the collection, treatment and destruction of household and non-hazardous waste, water service, wastewater service, and public passenger transportation services.

All non-inert and non-hazardous waste produced by business, industry, trade, crafts and service providers: includes scrap metal, non-ferrous metals, paper and cardboard, glass, textiles, woods, plastics, etc.

Waste of plant or animal origin that can be broken down by micro-organisms for whom the waste is a food source. Organic and compostable waste includes plant matter, putrescible waste from domestic kitchens, restaurants and canteens, and certain types of soiled paper and cardboard. All this waste can be used in composting.

The re-use or recycling of waste or comparable action applied to it to obtain reusable materials or produce energy.

The direct reinjection of a waste product into the production cycle from which it derives, in total or partial replacement of new raw material. A simple instance of recycling is to take broken bottles, melt them down and make new bottles out of them.

Renewable energy comes from a source that is constantly being regenerated. Renewable energy takes various forms, but ultimately derives, directly or indirectly, from the sun or from the heat contained under the earth’s surface. Examples of renewable energy sources include solar and wind energy, biomass, geothermal energy, hydraulic and wave energy, biofuels, and hydrogen derived from renewable sources.

Any of the processes whereby the latent energy contained in waste is harnessed. When waste is burned, the calories it contains are recovered and the resulting energy used for producing electricity and/or heat and/or steam. The heat produced can be used e.g. for heating buildings. Biogas also has energy potential and is recovered for producing heat, steam, and electricity; it is also used in CHP (combined production of heat and electricity), as fuel for vehicles, electrical energy, and injection into the gas network.

The operation whereby a mixture of waste is sorted into different categories (cardboard, plastic, wooden pallets, etc.) to facilitate disposal using different processes for each category. Sorting at source designates the operation whereby waste is sorted at the point of production.

A waste incineration plant that produces electricity or steam for a heating network.

The waste produced by the facilities responsible for treating and maintaining wastewater and stormwater drainage systems. This waste is mainly organic (sludge, grease, sludge from screening treatment stations, sump waste etc.) or mineral (sand from wastewater treatment plants, sludge, sludge from sewer maintenance, watercourse dredging waste etc.).

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. Electrical and electronic equipment accounts for a growing proportion of the household waste that municipal authorities have to dispose of: it includes brown goods (television sets, radios, telephones), white goods (refrigerators and other major appliances), and household IT equipment such as computers and peripherals. The volume of WEEE is growing constantly. WEEE can represent an environmental hazard if it is not properly stripped prior to disposal.