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Veolia Environmental Services has just started a 26-year PFI* (Private Finance Initiative) covering the integrated management of municipal waste in Nottinghamshire, a county some 200 km north of London. Worth an estimated total of €1.2 billion over the full term, the contract strengthens Veolia Environmental Services' leadership position in the United Kingdom's PFI market, which is growing very strongly in the waste management segment.
The agreement sets an ambitious target of reaching 52% materials recovery and recycling by 2020. It also calls for increasing agricultural recycling and energy recovery by developing alternative solutions to landfilling, in line with European Union directives and the British government's statutory targets.
To that end, Veolia Environmental Services will introduce integrated waste management, including the construction and management of complementary new treatment and recycling units. This approach will maximize the recovery and recycling of the 460,000 metric tons of waste produced annually by the County Council's 750,000 residents.
In addition, Veolia Environmental Services has committed to not accepting any waste for landfilling by 2011 currently, 75% of the waste is sent to landfill. The company's target exceeds the County Council's requirements.
Lastly, Veolia Environmental Services is assuming responsibility for curbside collection of source-separated waste (paper, plastics, cans, etc.), green waste and glass, as well as management of the county's waste recycling banks and 17 waste drop-off centers.
During the first six years of the contract, Veolia Environmental Services will invest €205 million in the development of new facilities in successive stages.
* PFI (private finance initiative): is a recent form of contract in the United Kingdom, more flexible than public-private partnerships (PPP). It was developed by central Government, in consultation with the sector's stakeholders. PFIs allow broad contractual flexibility between the public and private partners, with the private partner assuming the majority of risks.
Veolia Environmental Services is already operating PFI integrated waste management contracts in the United Kingdom in Hampshire, East Sussex, Brighton & Hove, and Sheffield.
For Denis Gasquet, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Environmental Services, "Our experience in comprehensive contracts in the United Kingdom is now widely recognized. Based on our contracts in Bromley (14 years, 350,000 residents), Sheffield (30 years, 500,000 residents), East Sussex (25 years, 750,000 residents), Hampshire (30 years, 1.2 million residents) and so on, we were able to convince the people at Nottinghamshire County Council to let us work with them to overhaul their waste policy over the coming decades, helping them to optimize waste management and reach the extremely ambitious 52% recycling target by 2020. It is becoming increasingly important for municipalities to take into account recycling waste as fertilizer, recovering and recycling raw materials, and energy recovery in the design of their waste management systems for the future."
The integrated management system in Nottinghamshire will have the following facilities:
A materials recovery center in Mansfield (85,000 metric tons of waste a year) from the summer of 2008.
A composting center in central Nottinghamshire and management of the county's existing facilities (100,000 metric tons of green waste a year).
A new waste drop-off center in Worksop, as well as modernization and operation of the county's existing drop-off centers.
A network of new waste transfer stations (Newark and Worksop), together with taking over existing sites at Giltbrook and South Nottingham.
A new energy recovery facility, scheduled for construction in 2011, that will treat waste that can not be recycled or composted. With the capacity to treat 180,000 metric tons a year (in the greater Mansfield and Ashfield area of Nottingham), the facility will produce 15 MWh of energyenough to meet the electricity consumption needs of 15,000 householdsfor sale to the national power grid.
The management of existing landfills until 2011.
Veolia Environmental Services, the waste management business of Veolia Environnement, is the only provider of a full range of services for hazardous and non-hazardous solid and liquid waste all over the world. The company provides waste management and logistics services (collection, pipe systems maintenance, cleaning, waste flow management), as well as materials recovery and recycling. Veolia Environmental Services generated revenue of €6.6 billion in 2005, representing 25% of Veolia Environnement's revenue.
www.veolia-proprete.com
Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE, NYSE: VE) is world leader in environmental solutions. With over 270,000 employees and operations worldwide, the company provides municipalities and private companies with tailored solutions in four complementary segments: water services, waste management, energy services and passenger transportation. Veolia Environnement generated revenue of €25.2 billion in 2005.
www.veolia.com
Important disclaimer
Veolia Environnement is a corporation listed on the NYSE and Euronext Paris. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including the risks described in the documents Veolia Environnement has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Veolia Environnement does not undertake, nor does it have, any obligation to provide updates or to revise any forward-looking statements. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Veolia Environnement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from Veolia Environnement.
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