Water & Wastewater Asia March/April 2024

IN CONVERSATION WITH
Veolia is targeting the
Asian market to grow
from 2024-2027 as part
of its three-year plan
(Image: Unsplash)
of consideration and expectation to
economic, commercial, social, human and
environmental performance. “This is an
exciting momentum, in the next 2-3 years
to evaluate, create new solutions and
demonstrate our impact,” Valleteau said.
“It is not just meeting but anticipating our
customers’ and stakeholders’ needs. It is in
continuity with what we have done before,
but with a different perspective on it.”
As part of its three-year plan — from
2024-2027 — Veolia is targeting the Asian
market to grow. Valleteau said that the
team is trying to push global solutions
developed in Europe to serve Asian
customers, and vice versa. In APAC, Veolia’s
microelectronic expertise has paved the
way for its development in Europe. “We
are providing global solutions, but we
tailor our commercial approach and our
technical approach to the local needs of
our customers.”
The ecological transformation
is about perceiving and seeing
it in a different way, which is our
impact for our customers, for our
stakeholders and for our planet.
Arnaud Valleteau
CEO, Veolia Water Technologies
As different regional contexts affect the
solutions, Veolia customises its approach
for its diverse range of customers. “We
have a local perspective as the needs
are not completely the same for Asia and
Europe,” he said. The three-year plan will
also see Veolia expand its digital services in
Asia to provide a fuller scope of solutions,
and the team will have to readapt to the
geopolitical issues in Asia-Pacific. “Our
added value is to be able to anticipate for
our customers,” the CEO said, “We are
looking to bring solutions to treat excess
water, build more resilient cities to [tackle]
climate change issues and extreme weather
challenges.”
CREATING WATER RESILIENCY
In the face of climate change, creating
resiliency around water helps to deal with
extreme weather conditions: one where
there might be excess water in the form of
flooding and rising sea levels, or the severe
lack of it as seen in droughts. Valleteau
said that these extreme weather events
will impact the quality of resources: “How
can we adapt treatment in order to make
sure that we are able to deliver potable
water or process water for the industry? We
want to better control the way we are using
resources and how we value water.” With
each country having its own regulation,
Veolia is said to be working closely with
its stakeholders in each region to ensure
solutions are met, and what to anticipate.
Veolia’s forecasting will help ensure “the
system remains resilient while making
sure it is sustainable, reducing energy
and chemical consumption to mitigate
the impact on the environment”, the CEO
added.
Around for 170 years, Veolia’s long-term
approach has been consistent with
its mission statement of ecological
transformation. Sustainability is seen as
a long-term approach, and the CEO said
that greenwashing is going to kill some
businesses as it would not work in the
long-term. “This is something that
differentiates us from our competitors,”
Valleteau said. “It is our long-term vision.
We are a stable group with long-term
investors on board. This has value in a
world that is changing fast.”
Arnaud Valleteau
CEO, Veolia Water Technologies
Water & Wastewater Asia | March-April 2024 21